1245-1301 E. Washington Ave. Built 1899-1901, Additions 1911, 1946 Madison Landmark
The Gisholt complex consists of three buildings representing different stages of the company’s
development. The large factory building is the oldest section of the complex.
The Gisholt Machine Co. was founded in 1889 to manufacture a heavy duty turret lathe that had
been developed as part of the manufacturing process at the Fuller and Johnson Plow Works
across the street. The firm expanded to produce hand screw machines, vertical boring mills,
semiautomatic machines used for producing automobile flywheels, ring gears, a precision
balancing machine and grinding machinery. Before World War I the firm had grown to be the
second highest payer of corporate income tax outside of Milwaukee and Madison’s major employer.
In 1966 Giddings & Lewis acquired Gisholt Machine Company. Later it was the home of Marquip
Inc., manufacturers of machinery for the paper box industry.
Founded by
John A. Johnson who was also a founder of
Fuller & Johnson.
Gisholt Home for the Aged
