There and Gone: The Short History of the Allis-Chalmers Terre Haute Works -Part II

Community in Crisis As Allis-Chalmers got work at its pilot plant in the old street car barns underway, the production workers held an election to choose a bargaining agent. A vote was held on January 18, 1952, in favor of the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers (UAW)--part of the larger Congress of Industrial…

The Soviets at the West Allis Works

While doing research on some other Allis-Chalmers topics, I stumbled across an interesting article in the A-C Scope, an employee publication from Allis-Chalmers. It highlighted the visit of the delegation of manufacturing representatives and government officials from the Soviet Union. Here is a transcription of the article from the November/December 1959 issue of the publication.…

There and Gone: The Short History of the Allis-Chalmers Terre Haute Works -Part I

Terre Haute Works circa 1960 (Courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society) The Allis-Chalmers Corporation was once a leader in the American industrial scene. The company is probably most known for its iconic Persian Orange colored farm equipment, but that was just one speck of the more extensive line of precision machinery it made in…

Urban spelunking: Crew unexpectedly rediscovers an old Allis-Chalmers tunnel

Urban spelunking: Crew unexpectedly rediscovers an old Allis-Chalmers #tunnel Source: Urban spelunking: Crew unexpectedly rediscovers an old Allis-Chalmers tunnel

Allis-Chalmers Betatron Lab

  Every now and then I learn something new about Allis-Chalmers. One of those new tidbits I have recently discovered is the betatron lab the company had at the West Allis Works. Last year I had the opportunity to step inside this old testing lab and see some of the equipment left behind. The machine was essentially…

Allis-Chalmers Greendale Research Facility

In 1958, Allis-Chalmers announced that it would build a research laboratory for development and testing of nuclear technology. The 30-acre site chosen was a few miles south of West Allis in the village of  Greendale, Wisconsin, a planned community built during the Great Depression. The facility consisted of 2 main structures totaling 27,000 square feet* of space for labs, office areas,…

AC Drafting Table

About 6 years ago I had the opportunity to acquire an awesome piece of AC history that I couldn't pass up. We restored a Farmall M for an implement dealership, and the gentleman who set up the restoration said he had a piece of Allis-Chalmers history I might be interested in. He showed me these…

WAW Infographic

West Allis Works Building Directory

I've assembled a list of the buildings at the WAW that I was able to find. A big thanks to the West Allis Historical Society! If you have not been to the West Allis Historical Society, I highly recommend you pay them a visit to see more of their AC collection.