Foundries

Wisconsin Foundry & Steel Works

1899 A group of local investors established the Wisconsin Foundry & Steel Works in 1899. According to local legend, one of the company's original products was an automobile jack to be used in the fledgling transportation industry. Within a few years the foundry started producing wood-burning kitchen ranges with three different style bases and a considerable amount of chrome surface area. The company's name was changed to the Cedar Grove Stove Co. to produce an entirely different kind of cook stove.

1900s At one time during the very early 1900s, the foundry is said to have supplied portions of the village with direct-current electricity. The energy was stored in hundreds of batteries while the foundry was in operation and was available for use between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. At 10:55 p.m. electric lamps would be made to flicker, thus alerting villagers who were still awake that they should light their kerosene lanterns because the electricity would soon be shut off. Even the street lights used this power.

1920s During the 1920s a coaster wagon company was purchased by the owners of the local foundry, and many wagons were produced as promotional items. The Louisville Gazette awarded these wagons as prizes in a subscription contest for their newspaper, local grocer gave them to customers who purchased a certain amount of groceries. The next owner of the local foundry was the Schwab Furnace Company. This company built a large addition to the plant where they made cast iron and sheet metal parts for their furnaces. The furnace company’s dealers then purchased parts directly from the foundry and assembled the furnaces for their customers.

1940s In 1941 the business was purchased by Edward M. State and was renamed State Foundry. Mr. State discontinued production of the furnace castings at that time. As a result, several employees left State Foundry to start Gilt Edge Foundry where the Schwab Furnace parts began to be manufactured. State Foundry continued as a producer of grey iron castings until 1949 when it was the first Wisconsin foundry to produce ductile iron. Until the mid-1960s the melting process was done with a cupola. Then with the purchase of electric induction furnaces the foundry achieved a melt capacity of more than fifty tons a day and could provide castings with weights ranging from just ounces to over 30,000 pounds.

1960s During the 1960s, the J. M. Nash Co. purchased the foundry and then resold it to Medalist Industries and was renamed Medalist State Foundry, Clay Willman was hired to run the foundry in 1971. Willman turned the company into a profitable foundry, eventually purchasing it in 1987 and renaming it Willman Industries.

J.M. Bruce Foundry was established in 1919 by James Maxwell Bruce who emigrated from Scotland in 1900. James’ father had operated a foundry in Scotland while the family lived there. Mark Q. and Glenn Bruce became partners in their father’s business in 1946. The foundry produced grey iron, semi-steel, and alloyed castings. During World War II the foundry manufactured winches for naval boats. The foundry had also contracted with the government to make hand grenades, but the war ended before the project got under way. Following Mark’s passing in 1982, Glenn Bruce became sole owner of the foundry.

Gilt Edge Foundry was started in the mid-1940s by a group of area men including Allen and Roland DeMaster, Harold Harmelink, Audley Holle and Tres Jentink. The foundry operated on East Union Avenue in a building that had formerly housed the Gridley Dairy Company. Financial backing for the foundry was obtained from the Mills family of Milwaukee who also owned the Schwab Furnace Co. Schwab Furnace was looking for a new foundry to make the cast iron doors and grates that State Foundry discontinued. The Mills family purchased the property and building and remained the major stockholder until the business closed. Gilt Edge Foundry was known as a “jobber” foundry for grey iron castings. The company specialized in small production runs and unique castings which larger foundries were not interested in producing. Gilt Edge Foundry closed in 1983. The building was torn down and the property is currently the home of Lakeshore Cabinetry. Gilt Edge is gone but not forgotten. The foundry is remembered by many area residents as a place they worked part time, nights, or summers “shaking out” to earn a little extra money for their family or for a college education.