Armin Schlesinger of the Schlesinger Interests incorporated the Milwaukee Solvay Coke
Company as the Milwaukee Coke and Gas Company on December 9, 1902. In 1905 the company
constructed a plant and supplied Solvay gas under contract to the Milwaukee Gas Light
Company. Through the early 1920s Milwaukee Coke and Gas was operated as a subsidiary of the
Newport Company, also controlled by the Schelsinger Interests. The Koppers Company, a
Chicago-based coke and manufactured gas conglomerate, acquired Milwaukee Coke and Gas in the
mid-1920s. Milwaukee Coke and Gas Company changed its name to Milwaukee Solvay Coke Company
in 1942, and on January 3, 1947 the company was purchased by the Milwaukee Gas Light
Company. Byproduct (manufactured) gas from Milwaukee Solvay's coking operations was sold to
Milwaukee Gas Light which supplied gas for public use in the Milwaukee area. In 1949
Milwaukee Gas Light switched to the use of natural gas, though Milwaukee Solvay continued to
produce manufactured gas in case of an interruption in the natural gas supply.
Pickands, Mather and Company acquired Milwaukee Solvay in 1962. Pickands, Mather and its
predecessor companies had served as sales agents and shippers of Milwaukee Solvay's products
since 1911. In the late 1970s Milwaukee Solvay was purchased by the Wisconsin Gas Company,
which had changed its name from Milwaukee Gas Light in 1965. The Milwaukee Solvay Coke
Company was closed in 1983. During its 80 years of operation, Milwaukee Solvay produced
metallurgical coke for use in the production of steel, foundry coke for use in castings
manufacture, and various byproducts from its coking operations, such as coal gas and coal
tar. At its peak, the company operated 200 coke ovens, employed 370 workers, and conducted
operations around the clock.
The Milwaukee Solvay Quarter Century Club was organized in May 1943 by employees with 25 or
more years of company service at a meeting in the company's sales office on North Milwaukee
Street. According to its constitution, the club was formed "for the purpose of promoting
good fellowship between the members thereof, the preservation of the common ideals which
have been their inspiration in the past and the better establishment of their identity with
the Company to which so large a part of their lives has been devoted." Herbert Hinz, club
historian, described the organization as "primarily a social one at which meetings pleasure,
entertainment, social contacts with blendings of sentiment and humor are stressed as much as
possible while relegating the business end of the organization to an absolute minimum." The
club met in May and September each year and held an annual Christmas party, and continued to
function until Milwaukee Solvay ceased operations in 1983.
