Sheboygan’s John Balzer Wagon Works built custom wagons and automobile bodies

SHEBOYGAN – The city’s industrial may well had several firms running in the downtown location in the course of the development era of the 1850s to the transform of the 20th century, in accordance to data from the Nationwide Sign-up of Historic Sites.

In the horse-drawn period, Sheboygan had two similar organizations on Pennsylvania Avenue. The large participant was Jung Carriage Enterprise and across the road was John Balzer Wagon Works, which specialized in creating tailor made carriages.

Founder John W. Balzer was born in 1827 in Goerlitz, Prussia, where he afterwards served as an apprentice wagon-maker.

Balzer emigrated to the U.S. in 1851, and in 1853 he established a a single-guy wagon and sleigh-earning shop in Sheboygan on Pennsylvania Avenue, according to Katie Reilly, of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.

Balzer created a series of properties, which includes the 1887 3-story cream-brick manufacturing facility at 820A Pennsylvania Ave., which is integrated in the National Register of Historic Spots.

In accordance to the the nomination sort for the Nationwide Register, the properties in the John Balzer Wagon Is effective sophisticated constitute 1 of the most architecturally major complexes of 19th-century industrial properties however remaining in downtown Sheboygan.

Balzer’s son, John A. Balzer, turned a husband or wife in 1881. And when the founder died in 1888, the son took about.

At the start of the 20th century, as cars replaced horse electrical power, the factory shifted to making vehicle bodies.

The exterior showing the Balzer's Wagon Works sign as seen, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Sheboygan, Wis.

The exterior displaying the Balzer’s Wagon Performs indication as witnessed, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Sheboygan, Wis.

Later on in 1928, the firm extra welding solutions, and a little bit later on in 1934 with vehicle overall body mend.

The creating complicated was applied as a toy manufacturing unit soon after Environment War II and later on turned warehouse space.

Later, the founder’s grandson, John A. Balzer Jr., operated a welding business in the showroom setting up into the 1970s.

Now, the properties are applied for a wide variety of businesses, which lean a lot more towards retail than industrial.

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This short article at first appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan John Balzer Wagon Will work on National Register Historic Areas

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