Property Record
1515 BALL ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Northwestern Steel & Iron Works |
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| Other Name: | L.E. Phillips Career Development Center |
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| Reference Number: | 40863 |
| Location (Address): | 1515 BALL ST |
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| County: | Eau Claire |
| City: | Eau Claire |
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| Year Built: | 1922 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1997 |
| Historic Use: | industrial bldg/manufacturing facility |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | Masonry |
| Wall Material: | Concrete Block |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Barland (1965:297) states that a fire completely destroyed the plant in 1922. A complex of brick and concrete block structures located north of the Eau Claire River in the city's first industrial manufacturing area. The Northwestern Steel and Iron Works, forerunner of National Presto Industries, Inc., was incorporated in 1905 with a capital of $200,000. The first officers were Kim Rosholt, president; T.W. Rosholt, vice-president; and E.R. Hamilton, secretary and treasurer. The firm produced concrete machinery, gas engines, and car machinery (D). (The company's name was changed to Presto sometime after 1916 and then to the National Pressure Cooker Company in 1929. Today the firm is National Presto Industries, Inc., located on North Hastings Way.) Beginning in 1918 the company concentrated on the production of small sized pressure cookers. By 1935 approximately 60,000 cookers were produced annually. Following World War II and complementing its production of pressure cookers, the company began manufacturing a range of kitchen appliances, including electric skillets and automatic coffee makers (B). Currently the complex houses the L.E. Phillips Career Development Center. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) 1897 Sanborn-Perris Map - updated to 1916. (B) Eau Claire Industrial Review, 1955, p. 30. (C) Barland, L. 1965. The Rivers Flow On, p. 297. (D) History of Eau Claire County, 1914, p. 482. (E) Another map code for this building is EC 5L/5 and its corresponding Survey map name is Plat Map #4. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |