Allen-Bradley Building


The Allen-Bradley Company was founded in 1903 by Lynde Bradley with the financial support of investor
Dr. Stanton Allen as the Compression Rheostat Company, specializing in various electrical products.
Renamed the Allen-Bradley Company in 1909, Lynde and his brother Harry turned the company into one of Wisconsin’s leading employers.

Allen-Bradley reacted to the needs of the country during the twentieth century. During World War One, the company produced control panels for Navy ships, among other components. Through the Great Depression the company developed small resistors for radio sets. In the years leading up to World War II, their reputation for research and development helped the company in earning lucrative government contracts for electrical parts in everything from fighter planes to walkie talkies.

In 1962, the largest four-sided clock in the world at the time was lit, giving Milwaukee another distinctive feature on the city’s skyline. Innovation continued at Allen-Bradley, with their components travelling to the moon and back on Apollo 11 and NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet.

In 1985, the Allen-Bradley Company was sold to Rockwell International for $1.65 billion and the company formally changed its name to Rockwell Automation in 2001. Today, Rockwell Automation employs around 22,000 people, across 80 countries.

Allen-Bradley Building
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