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It will not be presumed that within the
limits of this short and broken review any extended comments
can be made concerning the various branches of business which
are being carried on in the manufacturing departments in the
city; such a demand would make it necessary to call attention
to perhaps almost every branch of industry common to the West,
for in point of manufacturing Janesville is second to no other
city in the West having equal facilities; being located on Rock
River, sufficient water-power is supplied for the propelling
of all kinds of machinery, and the great abundance and consequent
low price of fuel make the use of steam for manufacturing purposes
very practicable. Among the manufacturing establishments might
be mentioned flouring-mills, saw-mills, machine-shops, woolen-mills,
basket-factories, breweries, bakeries, confectioneries, furniture
manufactories, carriage- and wagon-shops, boots, shoes, barrel,
wind and fanning-mills, sash blinds, and cigar manufactories.
Prominent among these establishments we might make especial mention
of the Harris Manufacturing Company as being the leading establishment
of the place. They employ a large force throughout the year in
the buildings of reapers, mowers, and grain drills; between $250,000
and $300,000 worth of these machines are turned out annually.
Next to this is the Doty Manufacturing Company, chartered in
1865; by careful management this company has grown in prosperity,
and is now doing a very fine business in the manufacture of the
celebrated "Doty washer," punching and shearing machines,
grain drills, and other miscellaneous articles. With a force
of sixty men they turn out from $120,000 to $130,000 worth of
these articles annually. The Clow Reaper Manufacturing Company
are also doing an extensive business. In addition to those mentioned,
there is the woolen-mills of Payne, Hastings & Co., at Monterey,
on lower water-power, doing a fine business; their cloths are
of the best, and find a ready market. Wheeler & Sons' woolen-mills,
at the other power, are good, substantial buildings, well furnished
with machinery, and doing a good business. There are two good
furniture manufactories, each employing about forty men. Of the
carriage manufactories, we will name as leading ones Messrs.
Hodge & Buchholtz, and S. L. James; both of these firms are
doing an extensive business, and by turning out first-class work
they have built up an extensive trade. With the exception of
the Harris and Clow Companies, they are all operated by
water-power, the supply of which is practically inexhaustible.
In this atlas may be seen lithographic views of the Harris,
Doty,
Hodge
& Buchholtz, and S.
L. James' establishments. |
