Split Rock
Products occupied the building shown below beginning in the
1950s. Ingrid Regal worked at the firm between 1959 and
the late 60s and said it was owned and operated by Charlotte
and Eugene Leipold who had living quarters on the second
floor. Nackers
&
Associates owns the structure today and is the primary tenant;
other businesses rent offices on the upper level. Tom Nackers
gave me a tour and allowed me to take the accompanying
photographs. The exterior,
along with some
interior
walls, are built from Split Rock products and helped showcase
the company's construction materials to contractors and other
customers. Nackers thought the basement served as a
"party room," but Regal said it actually was a recreation room
primarily used by the family to entertain friends and
relatives. Occasionally it might have been the scene of
employee and customer gatherings, she said, but that was the
exception, not the rule. Scroll down for bird's eye
views that show the area more than 50 years ago, photographs
of Eugene Leipold and son Klaus Gruber, the company's
production facilities, Split Rock Products on various walls, the
firm's
name on a promotional pencil, the front and back of a
promotional flyer, newspaper clippings about the company's
products, and a
photograph of Nackers in the recreation room.
13160 West Burleigh Road, originally the home of Split Rock Products.
©2013 Ted Schaar
Split Rock Products' offices at 13160 West Burleigh Road are indicated by the green arrow; boxed in orange are the company's production facilities across
the street. The blue box encompasses some of the Richard Sand and Gravel pit. The lack of houses in the subdivision to the right of the frame indicates the
photograph was taken prior to the aerial below which was shot in 1963 and shows more homes on the curving street, which is probably Huntington Circle Upper.
Courtesy of Klaus Gruber.
The green arrow again points to Split Rock Products' offices in this aerial photograph commissioned by Waukesha County and taken in 1963; the company's
manufacturing facilities are boxed in orange and Richardson Sand and Gravel, in blue. Courtesy of Don Dittmar and the Waukesha County Internet Mapping site.
Eugene Leipold, founder of Split Rock Products.
Courtesy of Klaus Gruber.
Klaus Gruber, son of Charlotte Leipold and stepson of Eugene Leipold.
Courtesy of Klaus Gruber.
Split Rock production facilities. Courtesy of Klaus Gruber.
Split Rock production facilities. Courtesy of Klaus Gruber.
Close-up of cultured stone on the Split Rock Products building's exterior.
©2013 Ted Schaar
Split Rock Products' concretions on the building's porch. "We offered 20 different sizes of
blocks," Gruber said, "and 18 different colors for a total of more than 300 combinations."
©2013 Ted Schaar
Close views of walls inside the building.
©2013 Ted Schaar
Brian Gruber, son of Klaus, learned about my
research and sent this photo of the Split Rock name
on a promotional pencil. The words "Beauty-Permanence-
Economy" and the phone number "SUnset 1-4330" also
appear, along with the firm's address.
Front of promotional flyer.
Back of promotional flyer.
Tom Nackers stands next to a cultured stone bar in the basement recreation room. Ingrid Regal remembers the jaunty bacchant on the cement block wall
represented a simian and was a warning to guests "not to make a monkey out of yourself" by drinking too much. Klaus Gruber confirmed the
drawing served as a deterrent and said it was the work of a German artist.
©2013 Ted Schaar
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