Clio Logo

Gurney Refrigerator Co.

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The south portion of this building was built for LaBelle Wagon Works which was founded in 1869 as Farnsworth, Knapp and Co. In 1874, interest in the company was purchased by Benjamin F. Moore and A.G. Ruggles and the business expanded. As of 1874, the company produced 3,000 wagons annually; in 1880, a county history identifies that 200 workers were producing 20 wagons a day.

Images

Building, Sky, Window, Fixture

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

In 1887, the company was sold to Minneapolis parties who planned to relocate the firm to Minnesota. The building was purchased in 1890 by the Gurney Refrigerator Company, which was organized in Oshkosh and moved to Fond du Lac after a fire burned the Oshkosh factory. In 1901 a fire burned down expansions from 1895 and all that remained with the original three-story building. The expansions were rebuilt within six month. By 1890 the company was moved to Superior, Wisconsin. In 1922 a 60’x140’ three-story addition was built. A 1910 newspaper indicates the firm employed 200 hands, manufactured more than 200 styles of refrigerators (as well as custom orders) sent throughout the United States. Gurney was a successful company, but did not survive the Great Depression, closing between 1934 and 1936.

Additional Information