Property Record
142 N DOTY ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool Company Complex |
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| Other Name: | Giddings & Lewis Inc. |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 53654 |
| Location (Address): | 142 N DOTY ST |
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| County: | Fond du Lac |
| City: | Fond du Lac |
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| Year Built: | 1929 |
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| Additions: | C. 1940C. 1960 |
| Survey Date: | 19912019 |
| Historic Use: | industrial building |
| Architectural Style: | Art/Streamline Moderne |
| Structural System: | Concrete Beam |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | This large office/factory complex consists of an office wing that is a one story brick building accented with polished stone veneer. Windows are modern glass and metal units, and the main entrance has a modern glass and metal set of doors. The entrance is set into an entry pavilion of polished stone veneer. A modern overhang covers the entrance. The factory complex consists of a large three-story brick structure with a flat roof and industrial multi-light windows. This 1929 structure has been added to several times with modern materials. The streamlined form of this building with the rounded corner and the band of stone veneer that emphasizes the horizontal line of the building makes it a good example of the modern style. The original modern entrance has been removed, but most other major details of the building are intact. Giddings and Lewis began in the mid-nineteenth century when John Bonnell opened a machine shop to provide services to the booming lumber industry in Fond du Lac. In 1866, the company added a foundry and named their firm the "Novelty Iron Works." By the turn of the century, George Giddings and O.F. Lewis had acquired the firm they called the Giddings and Lewis Manufacturing Company, a firm making sawmill machinery and steam engines. After the waning of the lumber industry, the firm moved into the production of other types of machine tools for the booming factory business in the country. During the twentieth century, the company grew and expanded its product line under the guidance of the Rueping family who were now the owners of the company. After the Great Depression and World War II the company continued to expand and diversify until today, they are the fourth largest machine tool company in the world, making high-tec equipment for specialized uses. This factory complex is significant because of its association with the Giddings and Lewis Company, Fond du Lac's most important industry in the twentieth century. It is significant that much of this complex dates to 1929, when the company was making the transition between small machine tool company into an industry giant. Fox River Valley Industrial Survey The Novelty Iron Works, a foundry producing tools for the lumber industry, was established in Fond du Lac in 1874. This iron works was renamed the Giddings and Lewis Company after being purchased by George Giddings and O.F. Lewis in 1880. By the turn of the twentieth century, the company was renamed the Giddings and Lewis Manufacturing Company and produced sawmill machinery and steam engines. After the lumber industry declined, the company moved to produce other types of machine tools in support of heavy industry and manufacturing in eastern Wisconsin. In 1929, most of the Giddings and Lewis Complex was constructed. The large factory complex primarily consists of a one-story brick office wing and a series of tall and long brick production sheds with extensive glazing. Subsequent alterations were made in 1940. The company pioneered precise engineering of heavy machinery during the 1920s and 1930s and specialized in producing horizontal drilling, boring, and milling machines at this seven-acre plant. The company employed 700 people during the 1940s, while the specific abilities of its industry were valued during the war effort. Numerically controlled machines, first developed by the United States military, entered private development in the 1950s, with Giddings and Lewis producing the Numericord Controller in 1955. During the 1950s and 1960s, Giddings and Lewis continued to lead in the development of computer assisted automated production, which is presently common around the world. By the end of the 1960s, the company was one of five leading manufacturers of automation products internationally. The machine tool industry collapsed in the 1970s, and in 1982 the company was acquired by AMCA International. The Giddings and Lewis complex were purchased by the international mechanization company the Fives Group in 2013. The Giddings and Lewis Machine Tool Company Complex is significant under Criterion A: History in the area of Industry for its role in the Fond du Lac metal products industry. The period of significance for the property would extend from 1929 to circa 1970, approximately fifty years ago. The proposed Giddings and Lewis Machine Tool Company Complex is a cluster of buildings situated near the center of the City of Fond du Lac and has boundaries roughly delineated by West Johnson Street, Doty Street, Brooke Street, and the Fond du Lac Riverwalk. The complex began during the late 1920s and was developed over the next half-century as a large machine factory and office. The proposed complex consists of a part of the legal parcel at 142 North Doty Street associated with the contributing resources of the complex. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Fond du Lac City Directories. (B) Sanborn-Perris Maps - Fond du Lac. (C) Fond du Lac Tax Rolls. (D) Carol Cartwright, City of Fond du Lac Intensive Survey Report, Fond du Lac: City of Fond du Lac, 1992. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |