Racine County

With the development of the electrical industry there have sprung up various enterprises having to do with lighting equipment and such a concern is the Reliance Automatic Lighting Company, which was organized in Warren, Ohio, in 1909, but removed its business to Racine in 1911. The concern is owned and operated by Benjamin F. Flegel, who is engaged in the manufacture of an automatic time switch, a clock apparatus for turning lights on and off at prearranged times for store signs, windows and apartment house hall lights, etc., operating on one, two or three circuits. The device is most simple … Read more

S. C. Johnson & Son is the firm name under which is conducted one of the important manufacturing enterprises of Racine. The business was established in 1882 by S. C. Johnson, who began the manufacture of hardwood flooring. Gradually, however, the trade was developed along another line and the company now concentrates its energies upon the manufacture of wood finishes, one of the chief products being Johnson’s Prepared Wax, which is sold through jobbers throughout the entire world. Such was the value of the output that the trade steadily grew, covering not only America but every section of the globe, … Read more

The work among the Catholic people of the district now comprised in St. Mary’s parish began in 1838 and for four years thereafter they were visited by mission priests, including the Rev. Thomas Morrissy, who first visited Racine in 1838, at which time there was no Catholic church in the County. Following the arrival of Rev. Martin Kundig in 1842, the Catholics began the erection of a little frame church on Fifth street, on the present site of the Times building and the telegraph bureau. The church was completed in 1843 and dedicated in May of that year by Father … Read more