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(Photograph by Paul J. Jakubovich, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society)
Jacob Jung and his sons Henry and Otto built two shoe factories in this industrial city, which was known for its furniture factories. The elder Jung established the first, short-lived company, the Wolff-Jung Company Shoe Factory at 531 S. 8th Street, in partnership with leather-tanner Theodore Zchetzche and shoe manufacturer and retailer Charles Wolff. Jung, a wagon maker and builder, planned and constructed the building in two stages: the narrower section with paired windows was built c. 1885, and the wider part with triple windows went up in 1889. A heavy, corbeled cornice, segmental-arched window heads, and round-arched entrances unify the two segments. The company closed in 1898, and the building housed the Sellinger Glove Company from 1914 to 1958.
Jung’s sons proved more successful at making work boots in their Jung Shoe Manufacturing Company (620 S. 8th Street), which operated from 1909 until 1988. They started, however, by simply wholesaling shoes. To house their offices and warehouse, Weeks created in 1906 a two-story Beaux-Arts classical building, with an entrance outlined by pilasters, egg-and-dart and bead-and-reel moldings, and festoons above the entrance. More utilitarian additions made in 1909 and 1912 housed the factory. The Alexander Company converted the complex into apartments in 1992.