Among the important business enterprises of Racine which have contributed in large measure to the substantial development of the city is the Racine Shoe Manufacturing Company, which was organized in 1902 with Sands M. Hart as president, L. J. Elliott, secretary and treasurer, and Fred C. Goff as general manager. The plant of the company was located originally at the corner of Wisconsin and Seventh streets, but with the demand for larger quarters, a removal was made in 1906 to 1320 Clark Street. In 1914 Mr. Goff was elected president of the company and in 1916 Jens Jensen became president, with Fred C. Goff as secretary and treasurer and L. J. Elliott as vice president. The plant includes thirty-five thousand square feet of floor space, occupying a building three stories in height, with basement. They manufacture a special line of men’s fine Goodyear welt shoes and the product is sold extensively over this country and is sent to many points abroad, including Denmark, France, Australia, South America and Africa. They employ from one hundred and eighty-five to two hundred operators in the factory, mostly skilled labor, and their plant is equipped with the most modern machinery for the making of shoes and is operated by steam and electric power. They sell to the retail trade and are represented upon the road by fourteen traveling salesmen, who thoroughly cover American territory. The business has gradually grown and developed during the fourteen years in which it has been conducted under the present organization.
Source: Stone, Fanny S. Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement; Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1916.