| Lawson Airplance Company-Continental Faience and Tile Company | |
| Location: | 909 Menomonee Ave. South Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Refnum: | 01000964 |
| Added: | September 3, 2001 |
The Lawson Airplane Company-Continental Faience and Tile Company was a factory complex in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001[1] and has since been demolished.[2]
The Lawson Airplane Company was founded by former Major League Baseball player Alfred Lawson. In 1919 and 1920, the company designed and built the first two US transports, the Lawson C.1 or T-1 and the Lawson C.2 or T-2 in an effort to establish a commercial airline after the war.[3] The last airplane it attempted to build was the Lawson L-4, super airliner, a 56-seat, six engine large biplane. In the process Lawson introduced weather-proof cockpits, dual pilot control, passenger cabins with a center aisle and proposed the first nationwide commercial passenger service.
The oldest building in the factory complex was built in 1916 by the Pan-American Rubber Company - a 200 by 50 foot one-story building with walls of load-bearing brick. In 1919 the Lawson Airplane Company bought the property and in this building designed and built their prototype L-4, the "Midnight Liner," the second airplane designed to carry passengers. From this site Lawson attempted the first test flight of the L-4, which failed, hastening the end of the company in 1922.[4]
In 1924 the property was purchased by the Continental Faience and Tile Company, which manufactured art tile and quarry tile. Faience is a glazed ceramic inspired by the pottery of Faenza, Italy. In 1928 the company added on the front section, which contained a showroom, a manager's office, and a vestibule - all decorated with the company's tiles. The company struggled during the Great Depression and finally folded in 1943.[4]
Midwest Potteries bought the factory and manufactured ceramic lamp bases and figurines there until 1952. After that the complex was used as a warehouse.[4]