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□ INDUSTRYContinued from 2Gfacture of agricultural implements.By 1908 and under the direction of general manager J.A. Craig, the concern was the city's largest. New buildings increased the company’s physical plant until it occupied nearly three city blocks—south from Pleasant Street on both sides of River Street—and employed 250 to 300 men.It was Craig who convinced W.C. Durant, president of GM, in 1918 that Janesville Machine would be a good investment for the small but growing General Motors Corp GM also bought Samson Tractor Co. of Stockton. Calif., and merged it with Janesville Machine to form the corporation’s Samson Tractor Division here.Harris invented the Little Champion mower and a safety oil lamp In 1880, the firm of Harris Smith made about $30,000 selling the lamps worldwide with a large trade in Europe.• 1885: About this year, Harris Smith “drifted into the manufacture of barbed wire.” Smith withdrew from the business after a few years, and it was carried on by Harris and his son, A. J. It grew to a large operation, also making wirenails and the more humane” woven wire, which supplanted barbed wire for livestock fences.The Harrises incorporated the business in 1903 as the Janesville Barbed Wire Co. with a capitalstock of $150,000.Parker Pen starts• 1891: George S. Parker incorporated The Parker Pen Co. That company’s history is outlined in a separate story.• 1900: Peter Hohendale Jr.starts his Pickling Packing Co. Its speciality was canning corn and making sauerkraut with the corn and cabbage being grown locally. Pickles also were a big product, but the cucumbers had to be shipped in. The company put on an addition to can peas in 1908.That wasn’t the city’s first canning and pickling operation. The Janesville Pickling Packing Works had operated from 1874 to 1884 and made pickles and vinegar but had to cease operations because local farmers would not continue to raise cucumbers.Also in 1900, Colvin Baking Co.South Main Street to the former Woodruff Buckle factory on North Franklin Street.• 1907: J.M. Bostwick built a large factory at the east end of the Court Street Bridge for the Bassett Echlin Harness and Saddlery Co. The firm had occupied the first andsecond floors of the Armory block on West Milwaukee Street for many years, but the business increased to the point that Bostwickbuilt a new building for them atCourt and Park streets in 1902, which had to be expanded three years later but still didn’t provide enough room by 1907.S3■ s a-People harvested ice from the Rock River behind the City Ice ice house in 1890.started. It remained in business here until selling out to Heileman Co. in 1979.• 1902: Azel Hough moved his infant company, Hough Shade, from New York to a site on South Jackson Street south of Delavan Drive. The reason for the move was to be closer to basswood, which was the best material for the wood-weaving machinery that Hough invented.His sons, John E. and Albert R., carried on the business, today known as Hough Manufacturing Corp., located on Norwood Road. John is chairman of the board, and Albert still works for the firm in a part-time capacity.• 1904: About this year, the Hiawatha Springs Co. started bottling water from a springs known as the Burr or Pope springs about two miles north of Janesville.The water won first place at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.Thomas Nolan, Janesville, and a number of businessmen from Minneapolis bought out the «urr holdings and extended the sale of the spring water.Also in 1904 was started “an enterprise that meant much to the whole county of Rock.” Capt. James Davidson of Bay City, Mich, started the Rock County Sugar Co. on Emerald Grove Road to process sugar beets. The macinery cost $1 million.Local farmers started raising sugar beets, and they were shipped in. Each season’s processing “campaign” would employ 400 to 500 workers and turn out 60,000 tons of sugar. Local farmers realized about $300,000 annually from beet raising.• 1905: Janesville Clothing Co., which made overalls and similar goods, had to move from a single floor at the Parker Pen building onPlumbing SuppliesKeepJanesvilleAtvGNrWholesale Distributorll Beautiful^'44-Serving Janesville and AreaFor The Future GenerationsJjl w* DO YOU NEED...Our customersatisfactionis our best advertising%wMYou name it... we have it, or can GET IT!!!SEE OUR COMPLETE...STBBL WARBHOUSBFOB BIO SlUCTIONIt 'JLa-SOPPIYTta tim to plant b now!It's time to add a tree to our environment, a plant that gives beauty to a corner of the land, an expanse of lush green lawn. It's all you can do to redecorate Janesville during it's 150th year.754-6675520 N. Parker Dr.4740 John Paul Rd.. Milton754-2879MEMBER OFAMERICAN ASSN. NURSERYMEN WIS. LANDSCAPE FEDERATION WIS. NURSERYMEN ASSNjoin WITH MUTUAL in CELEBRATinGJAnESVILLE'S 150TH AnWVERSARYWe are in Janesville and proud of it! Come celebrate Janesville's 150th birthday at eit of our Janesville offices.
Newspaper Details
Janesville Gazette
Janesville, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Aug 14, 1985
Page 50
Full Page
Clipped by
Hedberg P.
Wisconsin, USA 22 Sep 2022
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