When the tannery opened in May of 1851, it was one of the largest in Wisconsin and the Midwest, with 134 vats for tanning 100 hides daily for harness and light stock on the ground floor and extensive drying and storage rooms on the second floor. In 1861, a second, larger tannery, 315 × 50 feet, was constructed south of  the earlier one, with 150 double vats for tanning 75 hides daily into sole leather. Bricks used for its construction came from Milwaukee.