Founded in 1867, S. Freeman Sons Manufacturing Company grew from a small boiler repair shop into one of Racine’s leading industrial firms. The company expanded into farm implements and machinery, incorporated in 1886, and later moved to a six-acre modern plant. Today it employs 300 workers and sells boilers, steel pipe, and agricultural equipment worldwide.
The Gold Medal Camp Furniture Manufacturing Company, founded in 1890 and incorporated in 1892, grew from a small line of six or seven items into a major maker of camp furniture and outing outfits. Now occupying two blocks in Racine, it employs 125 workers, ships worldwide, and supplies the U.S. army, navy, National Guard, and camping parties.
Joseph S. Hartmann, a German-born immigrant who came to the United States in 1862, founded the Hartmann Trunk Company, which grew from a small Racine operation into a major trunk and luggage manufacturer with plants covering three acres and sales offices in Chicago and New York. The company holds more than 100 patents and employs 300 workers.
Henricksen Jacobson, a Racine wholesale grocery firm founded in 1910 by Henry M. Henricksen and Jacob Jacobson, has grown rapidly into a substantial business. Originally located on Mound Avenue and later moved to State Street, the company carries a large line of groceries, including butterine, butter, eggs and cheese, serving Racine and Kenosha counties.
The J. I. Case Plow Works grew from a small blacksmith shop into one of the world’s largest independent implement companies, built on quality, service, and dealer support. With more than 600 skilled workers, strict inspection, experimental field testing on a 300-acre farm, and modern factory safeguards, the company set high standards for farm machinery.
A detailed history of Racine’s J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, tracing its rise from Jerome I. Case’s first threshing machines in the 1840s to a global industrial leader by 1916. The article highlights the company’s innovations in agricultural machinery, expansive Racine plant, worldwide sales network, quality-control laboratory, employee benefits, fire protection, and the famous Old Abe trade symbol.
The Junction Hardware Company of Racine, now run by brothers Frederick T. and William G. Maxted, traces its roots to their father’s hardware business founded in 1891. The excerpt also highlights the brothers’ community involvement, fraternal ties, musical interests, and leadership in local football and basketball, where they helped promote clean, competitive sport.
The Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company, formed in 1903 by W. T. and W. M. Lewis, grew out of Racine’s long-running Mitchell wagon business founded in 1834. After rebuilding from a major 1880 fire and merging wagon and automobile operations in 1910, the company became a major Racine manufacturer with a large cement plant and more than 2,000 employees.
The Mohr-Jones Hardware Company of Racine traces its origins to a hardware business founded in the 1870s and reorganized in 1899. Now led by John W. Jones, the company operates a store on Sixth Street and a large sheet metal factory and warehouse, serving both wholesale and retail customers as one of Racine’s leading firms.
The Mueller-Kuehn Company, organized in 1907, operates one of Racine’s leading wholesale grocery businesses, tracing its roots to Herman F. Mueller’s retail store founded in 1876. Now serving a broad trade territory from Racine and Kenosha, the company has expanded steadily and is erecting a new fireproof building. Annual sales are about $600,000.