BELLE CITY SQUARE: A HISTORY 

“This development is stunning already and will be such a gem as it evolves along this major thoroughfare of Racine. We are excited about Belle City Square becoming an urban town center rich with local residents, services and retail offerings, and (this) is just the start. We need such modern, safe and energy efficient housing, and the business development and neighborhood services that will emerge at Belle City Square will bring value to the City and our residents.” –RACINE MAYOR, CORY MASON 

LIVE THE LEGACY

Belle City Square is a mix of old-world charm and modern, luxury construction, located in a historically working-class city that is on the up and up. With the intention of reinvigorating the past, modern-day business and community needs are met while the history of the Horlick Malted Milk Factory shines. Historic foundations are preserved while modern design and forward-thinking amenities are accentuated to provide a truly unique apartment living experience in Racine, WI.

Racine has been called Belle City (meaning “beautiful city”) for centuries. Once the home of the historic Horlick Malted Milk Factory, now being beautifully reimagined for today’s modern town square life, the Belle City Square campus is an outstanding example of the city’s newest Live Work Play neighborhood. Within the legacy of Belle City Square also lives the history of two brothers and a vision for the rising city, and today a newly transformed community in the heart of Southeastern Wisconsin that still reflects its community-driven roots. 

THE BEGINNINGS

1873: Two Brothers, William and James Horlick, and their wives, Arabella and Margaret, emigrate from England to the United States and found the J & W Horlick Company, producing malted milk as a nutritional supplement.

1875: The brothers look to relocate their company and settle on Racine, Wisconsin for its abundant land and water resources.

1882: The first Horlick's factory building is built on the site, designed by James Corse & Sons. The three-to-four-story industrial building was built in the Gothic Revival style to resemble an English castle, a nod to the Brothers’ homeland. The building, with cream brick walls typical of southeastern Wisconsin, features a clock tower and turrets.

A COMMUNITY GROWS

1883: William Horlick registers the Malted Milk process with the U.S. Patent Office.

1902: The Second Factory Block is added to the grounds. The Company has an enormous economic impact on the state and city: employing over 500 people at its height, creating quality standards for the storage of milk unheard of for the time, and providing a non-perishable, calorie-dense food. Local dairy farmers expand their herds to keep up with the demand for a milk supply.

1910:  A two-to-three-story engine room building is added to the growing factory grounds, with a large smokestack and an elevated walkway connecting it to the factory building.

RACINE THRIVES

1916: A two-story garage is added to the property grounds. Horlick malt products rapidly expand in sales, reaching the far corners of the world, from Greenland to Italy, to and the Hawaiian Islands and Hong Kong, and even to Antarctica with the most famous explorers of the time.

1936: William Horlick dies at the age of ninety. The father of malted milk provided the Wisconsin community with jobs and civic improvements, donating money to local parks and schools, funding stadiums, amusement and musical events.

1951: Racine Hydraulics purchases the main Horlicks plant. Two other buildings at the complex were purchased by Western Publishing in 1955, and Western sold them to Racine Hydraulics in 1964.

A NEW BEGINNING

1953: Famously, all those who served at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 were given a free bottle of the Horlick Malted

Milk tablets.

1970: Horlicks, now owned by Beecham Group, continues to operate in the former engine room building.

1975: On the 100th anniversary of the company’s founding, the Horlick Malt Factory ceases operations.

2018: Milwaukee developer Josh Jeffers purchased the 16-acre former Horlick Malted Milk Co.

2019: J. Jeffers & Co. applies to add the complex to the National Register of Historic Places in October.