The John Pritzlaff Hardware Company, located on North Plankinton Avenue, housed a massive operation from 1875 to 1919. From 1875 to 1919, a complex of Italianate-styled buildings served as the headquarters for what was for years the largest wholesale hardware business in Milwaukee and the region. Founded by the immigrant John C. Pritzlaff from Pomerania, Prussia, the business initially started as a small hardware store elsewhere in 1850 and was moved to the current location in 1875.
The 1875 main block is a four-story brick structure with brick hood moulds over the windows and a denticulated, bracketed cornice, characteristic of the Italianate style. Additional blocks were added from 1879 to 1919, and the surviving buildings are all brick, in Italianate style. As the buildings grew, so did the staff count, with 450 employees working in 1931. His son, Fred C. Pritzlaff, took over the firm until his death in 1951.
His son led the firm until it closed in 1958. In 2013, the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, they have been renovated and converted into rental space for large events and high-end apartments.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
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