LOCAL HISTORY - BUSINESS & INDUSTRY

Ripon Knitting Works, national manufacturer of socks, hosiery and casual footwear for consumers and the US Army.

The Ripon Light & Water Company was located on Fond du Lac Street in the early 1900s, bringing gas, water and electricity to business buildings and residential homes.

1908 Barlow & Seelig’s washing machine innovation known as 'White Cloud’- a forerunner which grew to become the 'Speed Queen’ company, Ripon's largest business and global business still in operation today.

John Haas became a partner in the Ripon City Beer Brewery in 1865 - later known as Haas Brewery. This photo taken in the late 1800s. All buildings except stable barn have been razed.

Many of the early manufacturers and businesses in Ripon grew to national prominence. One of the earliest was Ripon Knitting Works, founded by Jehdeiah Bowen in 1880. The factory located on Watson and Seward Streets manufactured heavy hosiery and work mitts. In the late 1940s, the Knitting Works became the nation’s largest producer of slipper socks. The Ripon Knitting Works closed in the late 1960s.

Barlow & Seelig Manufacturing, started in 1908, was later renamed Speed Queen and is currently known as Alliance Laundry Systems. Still located in Ripon, Alliance Laundry Systems is a provider of commercial laundry systems which are manufactured under various brands and shipped to over one hundred countries throughout the world.

In the 1920s, Advertisers Manufacturing Company sewed promotional products like carpenters aprons and painter hats with advertising messages printed on them.