The Racine Silver Plate Company, manufacturers of gold and silver plated ware, Britannia ware, cutlery, ect., was incorporated May 8, 1875, with an original capital of $20,000, which was afterward increased to $44,000, with authority to extend the same to $100,000. The first officers were: James H. Kelly, President; B.F. Weeks, Secretary and Treasurer; Directors, James H. Kelly, B.F. Weeks, Thomas Dickinson, E.G. Elkins. The establishment employs sixty men and does a business of about $100,000 per annum. Their goods are now classed with those of Rogers & Co., and other well known Eastern manufacturers, and are sold in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan. History of Racine and Kenosha (1879)
Racine Silver Plate Company was located on the northeast corner of Second and Main Streets. Then came the fire of May 5,1882, that destroyed seven square blocks of Downtown Racine. Attempts were made to move Racine Silver Plates’ materials to a safe uptown location, but the fire spread too rapidly. In the end, all that remained of the business was a few walls, smokestack and piles of melted silver.
The company wasn’t rebuilt in Racine. The City of Rockford, Ill. wooed its owners to rebuild there and the name was changed to Rockford Silver Plate Co.
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