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Another Port Washington industry
which never attained the dignity of 100 years is nevertheless worth
mentioning because of the large number of people employed and its
remarkable record of continuous work throughout the depression of
the 1930s. This was the Wisconsin Chair Company, organized in 1889.
John Bostwick, a local jeweler and son-in-law of Barnum Blake, was
one of the largest investors and eventually owned most of the shares
and became president of the company. The first plant built by the
Wisconsin Chair Co. "became the largest employer in the area,
providing |
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Ozaukee County work force. Its presence was most likely the chief
reason that the city's [Port Washington] population increased from
1659 in 1890 to more than 3000 by 1900. Surviving the financial
crisis of 1893, the Chair company suffered its severest blow in 1899
when it was totally leveled by fire. The company showed its
resiliency by immediately rebuilding, and for many years remained
the backbone of Port Washington's economy. The incredible success
story eventually ended as sales and profits became smaller and
production slowed down." By 1959, the company had closed its doors
and its sprawling but inefficient 1900 plant, which, like the 1889
plant, was located behind and east of the N. Franklin Street
business district, partially encircling the city's inner harbor, has
now been completely demolished. |
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History