| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
Constructed between 1914 and 1943, this brick industrial building is comprised of a number of periods of construction. The earliest is believed to have been completed circa 1914 and constitutes the two-story, eastern portion of the structure (less the rear three-story wing). Windows along this block are set singly and in pairs within segmentally arched openings. A single doorway is located at the easternmost end of the building. The name Winnebago Cheese Co. is still legible along the east side of the structure. A two-story block, without windows and used for cold storage, is located behind the windowed portion. A three-story addition was added to the west side of the structure at some point after 1915 but before 1925. This tall-and-narrow wing includes a parapet with corbeled brickwork like the main block (which appears to have been added to the original block after this west wing was added), as well as segmentally arched window openings. A pair of deteriorating, wooden-frame windows remain along the third story of this wing. A three-story wing was built along the north side of the building in 1925, which cost approximately $13,000 and was completed by Immel Construction. Additional improvements were made in 1932 and 1943 (the rear loading platform). A historic photo of the building, which is undated but must be from circa 1919, does not depict the three-story wing to the west (or the one to the rear). As suggested by the partially remaining stairs, a second door was previously located along the west end of the original block.
Although a frame structure previously stood on this parcel, the first wing of the subject building is believed to have been erected circa 1914 for the Winnebago Cheese Company, which was incorporated in 1906 by shareholders Frank Schujahn, George H. Lindsay and A.G. Dana, with a capital stock of $12,000. Their first quarters, was located on Forest Avenue and, by 1909, they were located along W. 2nd Street, where they remained until at least 1913. Schujahn, born in Dodge County in 1872, entered the cheese-making business at the age of fifteen. In 1893, he established his own business at Huilsberg, which he conducted for nine years, after which he moved to Theresa. He came to Fond du Lac in 1905 and, shortly after, purchased an interest in the Winnebago Cheese Company. The firm, which both manufactured and sold cheese products, was incorporated the following year. By 1920, the company had re-incorporated with a capital stock of $250,000 and Schujahn had become the sole owner. Schujahn died in 1932 and the company was purchased by Harmon Wheeler, who continued the assembly and cheese-packaging firm until it was purchased by the Borden Company in 1953. Four years later, in 1957, company operations were transferred to Plymouth. The building continued to be owned by the Schujahn family and it was then occupied by the Concord Cheese Company and, as late as the 1980s, by the Park Cheese Company.
The subject facility has functioned as a wholesale cheese firm for a period of more than 70 years. While the manufacture of cheese is indeed noted as occurring here prior to Schujahn's death, the exact operations of the facility are somewhat unclear. A further review of the greater history of cheese-making and/or packaging business in the City of Fond du Lac would need to be reviewed in order to determine the place of the Winnebago Cheese Company within that context. Indeed, located immediately across the street at 204 W. Division Street (by no later than 1915) was the Dow Cheese Company, which appears to have been the successor to the Charles A. White wholesale cheese concern. Therefore, further research is recommended.
Fox River Valley Industrial Survey
The Winnebago Cheese Company was incorporated in Fond du Lac in 1906 by Frank Schujahn, George H. Lindsay, and A.G. Dana. Originally located on Forest Avenue, the firm moved to West Second Street by 1909, where they remained until they constructed a new facility. The extant two-story brick Winnebago Cheese Company building, located at 233 West Division Street in Fond du Lac, was constructed in 1915. By 1920, Schujahn was the sole owner of the company. He died in 1932, and the company was purchased by Harmon Wheeler, who continued to operate the cheese company until 1953, when it was purchased by the Borden Company. Operations were transferred to Plymouth four years later. However, the building continued to operate as a cheese company until the 1980s, under different names.
A three-story wing addition, designed by the architect Frank Stepnoski and completed by Immel Construction, was added to the west in 1925. A rear cold storage addition was completed in 1932, and a rear loading dock was added in 1943, both in matching red brick. The wholesale cheese company was one of a number in Fond du Lac during the first half of the twentieth century; however, many of the others are either non-extant or have been significantly altered. |
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