Property Record
825 E Wisconsin St
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Appleton Coated Paper Company Complex |
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| Other Name: | APPVION INC |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 240016 |
| Location (Address): | 825 E Wisconsin St |
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| County: | Outagamie |
| City: | Appleton |
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| Year Built: | 1907 |
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| Additions: | C. 1920C. 1940C. 1960 |
| Survey Date: | 2019 |
| Historic Use: | industrial building |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | Concrete Beam |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Fox River Valley Industrial Survey The Appleton Coated Paper Company was established by Charles Boyd in 1907. Located at 825 East Wisconsin Street in Appleton, the company’s facilities were initially located along the railway line to the south facing North Meade Street. The main production facilities and warehouse aligned with the tracks at an angle. The two first buildings of the Appleton Coated Paper Company were constructed in brick. By the 1910s, the company specialized in making white porcelain enamel shelf paper and had developed a reputation for applied chemistry in the papermaking field, often working with larger paper manufacturers to developed coated, thermal, carbonless, and security paper products during the mid-century. The 1920s saw the company expand northward with a new factory along East Wisconsin Street and a large addition to the east. By the 1940s, Appleton Coated Paper Company had acquired adjacent companies such as the Appleton Sewer Pipe Works and part of the Wisconsin Wire Works along Meade Street to the south, and the Kambo Food Stores and Fox River Tractor Company on Rankin Street south of the railroad tracks. During World War II, demand increased significantly with government contracts, and the company soon added an additional five warehouses and a laboratory to make up a larger complex of industrial buildings. Smaller production facilities were developed in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the 1950s. Employees of the company completed a $880 million buyout of the firm and renovated and expanded its Appleton facilities in 1992, acquiring and incorporating many of the surrounding industrial properties. The company had over 2,500 employees by 2001 and changed its name to Appvion in 2013. The company went bankrupt in 2018 and was sold to a number of its lenders, eventually being reorganized and purchased by the Midwest Paper Group the same year. The Appleton Coated Paper Company Complex is significant under Criterion A in the area of Industry for its role in the Appleton paper industry. The period of significance for the property would extend from 1907 to circa 1970. The proposed complex is a cluster of buildings situated northeast of downtown Appleton along the main east-west rail line and has boundaries roughly delineated by East Wisconsin Avenue, North Meade Street, and the railroad. The complex began during the 1900s and was developed over the next century as a specialty coated papers manufacturer and researcher. |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |