For Immediate Release
Contact: Kara O’Keeffe
Kara.okeeffe@wisconsinhistory.org
608-261-9596

September 18, 2018

The Badger State Tanning Company listed in National Register of Historic Places

Sheboygan, Wis – The Wisconsin Historical Society has announced the listing of the Badger State Tanning Company in Sheboygan, Sheboygan County, in the National Register of Historic Places. National Register designation provides access to certain benefits, including qualification for grants and for rehabilitation income tax credits, while it does not restrict private property owners in the use of their property.

The Badger State Tanning Company, constructed in 1920 with minor additions in 1926, 1951, and 1956 was a major leather manufacturer in Sheboygan and a prominent center of leather production in Wisconsin.  By the 1930s, the Badger State Tanning Company was not only the last and longest-operating tannery in Sheboygan, but it was also a thriving enterprise, with over 700 workers and daily hide production rate approaching that of the giant Milwaukee tanneries Pfister & Vogel Leather Company and Alfred Trostel & Sons. During the post-World War II period, the company was the largest employer in Sheboygan and by incorporating new technologies and tanning innovations became one of the largest manufacturers of high-grade leather in the country.  The history of this company spans the early era of small independent tanneries and the transition to large corporate tanning operations that eventually took over the industry.

The register is the official national list of historic properties in America deemed worthy of preservation and is maintained by the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Wisconsin Historical Society administers the program within Wisconsin. It includes sites, buildings, structures, objects and districts that are significant in national, state or local history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture.

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit www.wisconsinhistory.org.

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