Vignettes
/ The Exchange
District
/ Albert
Western Building(Schmidt Foundry)
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Built in 1901 of solid buff-coloured brick on a stone
foundation, the Schmidt Foundry cost $6,000 and consists
of three storeys on a raised basement. Large windows
at the front and rear of the basement level provided abundant
natural light to the foundry.
Established in 1881 by Andrew Schmidt, a Danish immigrant
who had learned his trade in Montreal, the Schmidt Foundry
was the only brassworks between Minneapolis and the Rockies
in the 1880s. Specializing in brass castings and fittings
for industry and construction, the foundry created ornamental
work, wire screening, iron crestings, brass railings and
screens for local churches and commercial buildings.
