| Additional Information: | This industrial complex is comprised of a number of periods of construction, not all of which could be quantified. However, the primary (west), two-story elevation exhibits two distinct eras, the original brick portion that dates to circa 1929 and an addition to the north that dates to the mid-1960s. The original portion of the factory facility is that which runs along the north side of National Avenue and is comprised of brick. The one-story factory building is divided into bays separated by brick piers; many of the bays retain original, factory sash windows. A more recent addition is located at the far east end of this wing. The south half of the entrance (west) elevation is divided into three bays, each level carrying a large, single-pane, replacement window. A one-story, flat-roof entry extends from the front of the north end of this wing. The 1960s addition significantly extended the Perkins Avenue elevation to the north and added a second story to the previous one-story, 1940s-era addition. Comprised of eight bays separated by brick piers, the first four bays consist of two-story window walls with colored spandrel panels. The upper level of the final four bays continue the glass and spandrel design, while the lower level consists of square openings infilled with glass block. Although a site visit on the property was not completed, a circa-1950s addition appears to exist at the north east corner of the facility.
Built in 1929, the Waukesha Hein-Werner facility was headed by Milwaukeean Richard Werner and Gothard Hein, the latter of which resided in Waukesha. Hein was born in Germany in 1886 and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1892. In 1911 in Chicago, he wed Olga Ewert. After working as a machinist and foreman, Hein established the Milwaukee Circulating Pump Company, manufacturer of oil and water pumps for the automobile business. He would later join Richard Werner and rename the enterprise the Hein-Werner Motor Parts Company and move the company to Waukesha, where Gothard and Olga would eventually move. In 1935, the company was experiencing a boom due to expanding automobile production the workforce was cited as increasing from 92 men in April 1934 to two shifts and 136 men the following year. By 1935, the company was also manufacturing hydraulic jacks, clutches for air compressors, as well as their original water and oil pumps. Gothard developed improvements to the hydraulic jack and received patents for his improvements in 1935 and 1940; he died between 1955 and 1957. In 1958, the company expanded with the purchase the Fox River Manufacturing Company in Oshkosh. As of 1962, the firm was identified as the “world’s largest manufacturer of hydraulic jacks,” and it was announced that they would be expanding their production to include a hydraulically operated backhoe (which they had been making for another company since 1959). Hein-Werner sold the subject property in 1981 to Akermans Verkstad AB (a Swedish corporation) but the company appears to have remained in the building into at least the mid-1980s. After selling off some of the company businesses, in 1998, Snap-On Tools, Inc., acquired Hein-Werner’s collision repair business which had, by then relocated to Pewaukee Road in Waukesha. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Milwaukee City Directory, 1914, 1918; Announcement of establishment, in The Iron Age (New York), Vol. 106 (29 July 1920), 308; Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Waukesha, Wis., 1929 (depicts building and “from plans” on the map); “Hein-Werner Orders Boom,” The Milwaukee Journal, 28 April 1935; Waukesha City Directory, 1955, 1957; “Firm Purchased by Hein-Werner,” The Milwaukee Journal, 25 February 1958; “Hein-Werner Diversifying,” The Milwaukee Journal, 27 January 1962; “Milwaukee Area Machines Move,” The Milwaukee Sentinel, 30 April 1966; VME Americas, Inc. v. Hein-Werner Corp., Case #95-C-596, Decision available online at www.leagle.com, Accessed June 2014; Robert Mullins, “Keeping Growth Simple at Snap-On Tools, Inc.,” Milwaukee Business Journal, 5 July 1998. The permit file for the subject building was reviewed; however, no pre-1980s-era permits were found. |
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