Monday, October 17, 2011

Made in Mississippi: Viking Range

Viking Range Corporation was founded by Fred Carl, Jr., a fourth generation building contractor, as a speculative venture aimed at developing the first commercial-type range specifically designed, engineered and certified for home use.  

In October of 1989, Viking began preparations for manufacturing its own product line in Carl's hometown of Greenwood, Mississippi, located in the historic Mississippi Delta. By February of 1990, the first Viking-produced range top went into production.  Production of the 48-inch range followed in April, and by July 1990, all models were in production in Greenwood. For the first time Viking assumed full responsibility for the in-house manufacture of its own product line.

The Viking corporate headquarters now consists of a collection of historic buildings totaling over 50,000 square feet. All of the downtown buildings are original structures of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and several have received historic preservation awards from the Mississippi Heritage Trust as well as the National Trust for Historic Preservation Award for commercial district revitalization.

The current square footage of all Viking production and distribution facilities in Greenwood is more than 600,000 square feet.

Copy and photos from Viking.

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