A look at the century-old Reuter Organ Company

Since its founding on April 17, 1917, the Reuter Organ Company has produced exactly 2,243 pipe organs within its 100-year existence.

Since its founding on April 17, 1917, the Reuter Organ Company has produced exactly 2,243 pipe organs within its 100-year existence. That may seem like quite a few instruments, but it pales in comparison to the amount of hours worked by the many employees who shape, sand, cut, solder, plane and mold the thousands of delicate pieces of metal and wood that go into creating the rather large and sophisticated instruments the company has become known for.

? The Reuter Organ Company began in Trenton, Ill. in 1917 before moving to Lawrence in 1919 when the pipe organ in the Masonic Temple at Tenth and Massachusetts Street was contracted.

? The original Lawrence location for Reuter was the Wilder Bros. Shirt Factory building, which still exists at 612 New Hampshire Street.

? The first Reuter organ was installed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Matoon, Illinois on Nov. 18, 1917. The organ is still in working order and will be played in a recital by Reuter vice president Ron Krebs, Lawrence, on Nov. 19, 2017, marking one hundred years and one day since its installation.

? The company has built and installed organs in three additional countries outside the United States, which include Canada, Korea and Taiwan.

? An estimates 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of metal (largely tin and lead) are purchased and used each year by the company for fabricating the pipes and other pieces associated with the instruments.

? Pipe maker Ted Burgess estimates that he has produced 130,000 pipes in his 43 years working for the company. Burgess is the longest-tenured employee at Reuter.

? The company takes on an average of 10 projects each year. This includes building original custom organs and restoring existing ones.

? The largest pipe organ ever produced by Reuter was for First United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas in 1966. The organ featured 6,078 individual pipes.

? Three hundred and twelve pipe organs have been produced by Reuter for Kansas churches.