Property Record
220 N FRANKLIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Rock River Cotton Mill; Janesville Cotton Mill |
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| Reference Number: | 86127 |
| Location (Address): | 220 N FRANKLIN ST |
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| County: | Rock |
| City: | Janesville |
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| Year Built: | 1874 |
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| Additions: | C. 1940 |
| Survey Date: | 19882014 |
| Historic Use: | mill |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
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| Wall Material: | Brick |
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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: | 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. In the late nineteenth century, Janesville experienced explosive industrial development. Among the new industries was the Janesville Cotton Manufacturing Company. This cotton mill, the state's first, operated 400 power looms and 10,000 spindles when it began operation in 1874. By 1880, the factory employed some 250 workers, mostly immigrant girls from Ireland and Germany. Financial troubles in 1886 forced the company to reorganize as the Janesville Cotton Mills; it continued to produce cloth under that name until the turn of the century. The original complex of three cream-brick buildings was built in 1874. The largest unit, the Main Block, is an impressive three-story utilitarian edifice fronted by a five-story tower, which contained a stairway and a cable-controlled freight elevator. A trio of arched windows highlights the tower’s fourth story, which housed a cistern of water for fire suppression. A 20-foot belfry with a mansard roof (a replacement of the original) crowns the tower. The main facade stretches more than 100 feet on either side of the tower, with evenly spaced, segmentally-arched windows piercing the otherwise unembellished brick walls, as was typical for early factories. Charles Carpenter of Madison rehabilitated the building into apartments and townhouses. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. "Cultural Resources Report For the Proposed Talman House Telecommunications Facility in Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin." WHS Project #14-0719/RO. June 2014. Prepared by Marcy Prchal. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |