48 
STATE AGEICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
better than to quote, at some length, the following from a care¬ 
fully prepared article by the editor of the Bureau^ of Chicago, 
a journal devoted to the commercial and manufacturing inter¬ 
ests of the northwest: 
“ The Milwaukee Iron Company was chartered by the legis¬ 
lature of Wisconsin, in January, 1866, and was organized 
shortly after; the plans for the works being made by the en_ 
gineer of the company, Mr. Wm. F. Durfee, and Mr. 0. W, 
Potter, superintendent of the Chicago rolling mills. * * 
The site was chosen at Bay Yiew, 114 acres ot land pur¬ 
chased, and work commenced in June of the same year. It 
progressed slowly the first twelve months, owing to the burn¬ 
ing of the Chicago rolling mill, which had to be immediately 
re-built, and not until March 1868 were the mills completed. 
The reasons for selecting this location, were: its cheapness (hav¬ 
ing been purchased for a trifle over$100 per acre); its contigu¬ 
ity to water navigation ; the Milwaukee and Chicago railroad 
running through it, dividing it into nearly equal portions; the 
fact that here could be made homes for the men, keeping them 
close about the managersand that the site outside the city 
limits would avoid the excessive city taxes. The portion east 
of the railroad was divided into streets and lots, the latter 
being 50 x 150 feet. These are sold to the men at low rates 
and on long time, the object not being to speculate in real es¬ 
tate, but to induce good and skilled men to settle here. In 
June, 1866, there was but one house on the whole location. 
There are now 43 comfortable cottages belonging to the com¬ 
pany, and 25 houses of various kinds, belonging to the work¬ 
men, who have bought lots and built. Many of these are neat, 
and display much taste. Amid the group, there is a beautiful 
little church, worth $4,000, and a brick school-house, capable 
of accommodating 180 scholars; also, two stores. There is 
but one restriction placed upon the sale of the lots—in that 
there shall be no intoxicating liquor of any kind made or sold 
on the premises. 
“ In 1866, a fine pier was built into Milwukee bay, where 
all the coal for the works is landed. The rolling mill is one 
