Person:Otto Nielsen (3)

DAILY NEWS RECORD, HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1973 NEW BUILDING METHODS AWE OTTO NIELSEN, 89

When 89 year old Otto Nielsen leaves his quarters at the Bridgewater Home and walks outside to watch construction on the new 150 bed infirmary, the sight summons up memories of his past associations with one of the area's liveliest business.

In partnership with his brother, the late Joseph Nielsen, he helped found the Nielsen Construction Company in 1925. Today, as a multi-partner corporation, the firm continues to build many of the area's most important structures.

Born in 1884 in Denmark, Mr. Nielsen was one of 15 children of a general store owner who sold "everything from silk ribbons to tar paper." The father had strong feelings for his native land and thought it wrong for persons to leave Denmark and immigrate to the United States.

"But times were bad in Denmark," said Mr. Nielsen, "and after my father died, we decided the best thing we could do would be to head for America. Joseph had gone before me by six months and settled in Warren, PA. When I arrived there in 1903 I managed to get a job in a boiler factory."

Soon, however, Mr. Nielsen went to Wisconsin where he worked 13 years for the Jamesway Manufacturing Co. When he left the firm's employ in 1924, the company's head ordered the business office to put Mr. Nielsen on the mailing list "forever." He still gets their mail.

By the 1920's, brother Joseph had become involved in the construction business in Harrisonburg. When he decided to start his own building enterprise, he asked Mr. Nielsen to come from Wisconsin and be a partner in the business. Mr. Nielsen brought along $5,000 of his savings and became the "inside" business manager.

Brother Joseph served as the superintendent of the firm, and together they began skillful, competitive bidding that earned them more and more construction contracts. One of their first major contracts was Johnston Hall at Madison College.

In 1930, the brothers built Wilson Hall, now Madison's administration building. The columned building, which took a year to construct, was then the second largest building in Rockingham County after the courthouse.

During the depression years, Mr. Nielsen recalled, some builders were able to get contracts only through shady deals. "We didn't always get the contracts," Mr. Nielsen said, "but we didn't do anything crooked either."

The construction firm prospered and the two brothers specialized in public buildings like Hostetter's Drug Store, the old Grant's store on Court Square, the building occupied by Shenandoah's Pride, and the Professional Building on south Main Street.

One of the buildings Mr. Nielsen built was the Biltwell apartments on Mason Street. He lived in and managed the structure for some 40 years, including the years following his retirement from the construction company in 1945.

A bachelor, Mr. Nielsen said that the only girl he ever considered marrying decided to wed someone else and remained in Denmark. He said his mother was glad he did not take a wife because "marriage is a great responsibility." "You ought to know, I told her. You had 15 children."

Besides Mr. Nielsen, other surviving children include a brother in England and a sister in Denmark.

Mr. Nielsen admits to being amazed at the latest construction methods.

"I don't understand how they build these days," he said, watching workmen on the Bridgewater Home wing. "They build the second and third floor before they build the first. They use machines for everything, and everyone stands around watching the machines work. When I build a building, we used a pick and a shovel and worked with our hands.

Brother Joseph died in 1962. Mr. Nielsen, who had been taking his meals in his brother's home, began eating in local restaurants. But because his dietary requirements have become more specialized, Mr. Nielsen decided a year ago to take up residence at the Bridgewater Home.

Except for some stiffness in his knee joints that has slowed his pace somewhat, Mr. Nielsen remains alert, active and interested in current events. He voted in the last election ("Republican, of course.") and thoroughly reads local periodicals.

And just as in the days when he was directly involved in the business of his own construction company, Mr. Nielsen enjoys watching the present firm that bears his name construct an addition to his present home. Even if the methods are new-fangled and don't make much sense.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Otto Nielsen, in Find A Grave.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Otto Nielsen, in Virginia Death Records, 1912-2014.

   born 17 Jul 1884
   died 4 Sep 1976 in Harrisonburg, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA
   parents: Nels Nielsen and Christina Paulsen