About Racine, WI
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. As of the 2013 U.S. census, the city had a population of 78,199, making it the fifth-largest city in Wisconsin. Its median home price of $103,625 makes it the least expensive city in Wisconsin to buy a home.

Racine has long been a factory town with production of J. I. Case (heavy equipment), S. C. Johnson & Son (cleaning and chemical products), Dremel Corporation, Reliance Controls Corporation, Twin Disc, and Arthur B. Modine (Heat Exchangers). It is home to various immigrant communities. Racine was home to wagon maker Mitchell & Lewis Company in the 19th century. At the start of the 20th century the company began making motorcycles and automobiles as Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company. Racine was also home to the inventor of the InSinkErator, the first garbage disposal. Architects of the city included A. Arthur Guilbert and Edmund Bailey Funston. Malted milk balls were also developed in Racine.

Racine was a factory town almost from the very beginning. The first industry in Racine County included the manufacture of fanning mills, machines that separate wheat grain from chaff. Racine also had its share of captains of industry, including J. I. Case (heavy equipment), S. C. Johnson & Son (cleaning and chemical products), and Arthur B. Modine (Heat Exchangers). Racine’s harbor was central to the shipping industry in Wisconsin in the late 19th century. Racine was also an early car manufacturing center. One of the world’s first automobiles was built there in 1871 or 1872 by Dr. J. W. Cathcart, as was the Pennington Victoria tricycle, the Mitchell, and the Case.

In 1887, malted milk was invented in Racine by English immigrant William Horlick, and Horlicks remains a global brand. The garbage disposal was invented in 1927 by architect John Hammes of Racine, who founded the company InSinkErator, which still produces millions of garbage disposers every year in Racine. Racine is also the home of S.C. Johnson & Son, whose headquarters was designed in 1936 by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright also designed the Wingspread Conference Center and several homes and other buildings in Racine. The city is also home to the Dremel Corporation, Reliance Controls Corporation and Twin Disc. Case New Holland’s Racine manufacturing facility, which builds two types of tractors (the New Holland T8 and the Case IH Magnum), offers public tours throughout the year.