The Weitz Company
Member:
The Weitz Company
Contact
Information:
5901 Thornton Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50321
(515)246-4700
(phone)
Email:
eden@weitz.com
History:
The Weitz Company of today descends from a small
carpentry shop founded in 1855 by an entrepreneurial
German immigrant. In many ways, the Company grew up not
just with the construction industry, but with the
nation. It predates the Civil War, the telegraph,
dynamite, and the transcontinental railroad.
In fact,
when Charles H. Weitz opened his shop in Des Moines,
Iowa, Franklin Pierce was president and Iowa City was
the state capital. That same year the government signed
19 treaties with Midwestern Indian tribes, and Abraham
Lincoln, who wouldn't be president for another seven
years, was vociferously opposing Steven Douglas'
position to allow slavery in the Kansas-Nebraska
territories. Walt Whitman had just published Leaves of
Grass, and mechanization meant using a horse to plow
Iowa farm fields.
Among the
Company's first projects were installing windows in the
Savery House, building a saloon and saddlery, and
putting up fences when business slowed. In 1878, Charles
decided to mine coal, but refocused on building by the
end of the century. As the business grew, Charles handed
down his craft and sense of values and quality to his
sons, who in turn passed the family business on to their
children, continuing for four generations. Now, almost a
century and a half later, Weitz ranks as the 31st
largest general building contractor in the United States
with nearly $800 million in revenues expected in 2001.
Web Link:
www.weitz.com
This web page was created as a special service to
our GDCDA Members. If you are interested in having
a GDCDA Member Web page, please
contact us.
