John A. Johnson made Madison's Factory District Flourish
The Madison Heritage Series
John A. Johnson made a bold move when he co-founded an agricultural implement company in Madison in 1880. Many civic leaders opposed manufacturing, fearing the workers would lower the city's moral and intellectual tone.
But Johnson proved his critics wrong. As president of Fuller and Johnson Manufacturing Company, he shared profits and decision-making with his employees, and provided them with affordable rental housing. Johnson's prosperous workers and impressive profits demonstrated that factories could be a boon. Johnson started Gisholt Machine Company, which produced machine tools, in 1889. By 1902, a year after his death, Johnson's factories comprised two of Madison's "big three." The third, Northern Electrical Manufacturing Company, was co-founded by an inventor Johnson recruited to Madison, Conrad M. Conradson. The three factories paved the way for Madison's bustling East Side manufacturing district.
(Sidebar):
Norwegian immigrant John A. Johnson succeeded in vocations from newspaper owner to politician to salesman. He assisted many local businesses and was active in the community, helping to establish the future Bethel Lutheran Church, the University of Wisconsin's Scandinavian Studies Department and the Union Army's Scandinavian Regiment.
Johnson's companies located near East Washington Avenue and Dickinson Street, along with Northern Electrical Manufacturing Company, which occupied the building in front of you, anchored Madison's early 1900s factory district. The area's East Side location placated West Side factory opponents who feared industrial growth.
Sponsored by the John A. Johnson Foundation and Webcrafters. Madison 150 Years, 1859-2006. (Images: Wisconsin Historical Society)
Marker is at the intersection of Dickinson Street and Wilson Street, on the left when traveling south on Dickinson Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
