Kohler

4th of July about town Audubon Club Backyard Birds 4th of July 2008 Blue Harbor Brat Days Cargill Circus City Hall County Barns County Fair Elkhart Lake Friday Fish Fry Fountain Park Gibbsville Hispanic Fest History Society Hmong Costumes Hmong Culture Hmong New Year Industry Jeeps and Airplanes Johnsonville Johnston's Bakery Kohler Kohler-Andrae Korean Festival Landmarks Laos War Memorial Mission House My Neighborhood New in town November 2007 October Fest Parks People and Pets Produce Market Quilt Show Restaurants Rhinestone Cowboy Riverside Shantys Road to Fond du Lac Steel Art South Side Business Summer Train Station Twilight Concert Waelderhaus Wildwood Cemetery Wisconsin Primitive Art World War I Yard Art

Kohler

Kohler Homes Kohler Village

 

Kohler Company Headquarters

The history begins in 1873, with the first of many bold business moves. Despite a climate of financial panic and the start of a five-year economic depression, 29-year-old Austrian immigrant John Michael Kohler purchased the Sheboygan Union Iron and Steel Foundry.

 

another view of the Kohler Company headquarters

The firm got its successful start producing cast iron and steel implements for farmers, castings for the city's furniture factories, and ornamental iron pieces that included cemetery crosses, urns and settees. A key turning point came in 1883 when John Michael applied baked enamel coating to a Kohler horse trough/hog scalder, creating the Kohler Co.'s first bathtub. Kohler was in the plumbing business.

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American Club

 

American Club

 

 

Like John Michael, many of the early employees were immigrants. Steeped in a heritage of European craftsmanship, they were eager to achieve success in their new country. Their dedication to excellence helped to forge one of the oldest and largest privately-held companies in the United States.

 

the American Club

The American Club, built in 1918 to provide housing for immigrant workers at the Kohler Company (of faucet and sink fame) and to provide recreation and dining options for Kohler workers and family members, the club now serves as an all-season resort -- AAA's only five-diamond resort in the Midwest.

 

the Horse and Plow pub and restaurant in the American Club

Photos of the Horse and Plow restaurant

 When the American Club was a rooming house, the pub's location contained a bowling alley and billiard room. Now the tables in the Horse and Plow are made of the wood from the original bowling lanes.

 

Inn On Woodlake opened in 1994

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entrance to the American Club

 

Christmas show 2008

 

Candy tree decorations from Beerntsen's

 

or candied pretzels

 

school benches for the children

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the factory

 

 

part of the factory
(mill building for preparing pigments for enameled cast iron bath tubs)

 

 

the water towers

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Blackwolf Run

 

the restaurant

Two public 18-hole courses, designed by Pete Dye, are at Blackwolf Run, ranked among America's 100 Greatest Courses by both Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine. It is rated five stars, and one of eight in the US to receive such a rating. Course includes pro shop, carts, lessons, restaurant, bar, and meeting facilities.

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The Waelderhaus

 

The Waelderhaus was built in the architectural style of the Bregenzerwald region of Austria, ancestral homeland of the Kohler family. This "house in the woods" features carvings, woodcuts, iron and pewter work designed by Kaspar Albrecht, a talented Austrian sculptor and architect.

 

 

sundial on the front of the building

Photos of Waelderhaus at Christmas

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River Wildlife Lodge

 

 

 

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Art of Kohler

 

 

 

 

Light Orange and Baby Blue

 

 

 

Screen

 

Hose Form

 

the lion

 

 

 

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Homes of Kohler

 

one attractively decorated for Christmas

More Homes of Kohler

Kohler Village

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Kohler Homes Kohler Village

4th of July about town Audubon Club Backyard Birds 4th of July 2008 Blue Harbor Brat Days Cargill Circus City Hall County Barns County Fair Elkhart Lake Friday Fish Fry Fountain Park Gibbsville Hispanic Fest History Society Hmong Costumes Hmong Culture Hmong New Year Industry Jeeps and Airplanes Johnsonville Johnston's Bakery Kohler Kohler-Andrae Korean Festival Landmarks Laos War Memorial Mission House My Neighborhood New in town November 2007 October Fest Parks People and Pets Produce Market Quilt Show Restaurants Rhinestone Cowboy Riverside Shantys Road to Fond du Lac Steel Art South Side Business Summer Train Station Twilight Concert Waelderhaus Wildwood Cemetery Wisconsin Primitive Art World War I Yard Art

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