Papermaking in Wisconsin

The first paper mill in Wisconsin started up in 1848, three months prior to statehood.

Papermaking in Wisconsin

In 1848, a paper mill was established in Milwaukee, producing paper for the Milwaukee Sentinel & Gazette. The paper was made from rags, with production climbing to 90 newspaper reams a week, "enough to supply the entire press of the state." Three months later, President Polk signed legislation enabling Wisconsin to become a state.

Financial troubles, dam washouts, and difficulties obtaining an adequate supply of rags prevented the industry from becoming firmly established in southern Wisconsin.

Another mill was built in the Milwaukee area in the early 1860s. It prospered until 1867 when an exploding boiler destroyed the mill. The paper machine they used was only 32 inches wide and made a 28-inch sheet. Production was one ton per day, and the paper was made from rags. Although the Milwaukee area declined as a papermaking center, it is today a regional and national center for printing and paper converting.

A plentiful supply of fresh water is necessary for good papermaking, so it was natural for the industry to begin developing further north along the banks of some of the state's major rivers, including the Fox, Wisconsin, Chippewa, Menominee, Peshtigo, Eau Claire, Flambeau and others. Much of the industry took over old lumber mill and flour mill sites and established new waterpower sites.

The first paper mill in the Fox River Valley was started in Appleton in 1853 to produce a coarse grain rag paper and straw wrapping paper. This mill burned in 1859, but was immediately rebuilt and made about four tons of wrapper and manila daily.

Between 1850 and 1875 paper mills were started at Waterford, Beloit, Sparta and Fond du Lac. The Fox River was fairly well established as the papermaking center of Wisconsin by 1872. Natural advantages had much to do with this. Lake Winnebago, at the upper end of the Fox, drains down to Green Bay about 35 miles away. During its travel, the water falls a total of 170 feet, with dams spaced all along the length of the river to provide many sites for power.

If there is any one year significant to the paper industry in Wisconsin, it is 1872. This year was the beginning of huge industry growth in the founding of paper mills.

It was this year that Colonel H. A. Frambach, a Civil War veteran, brought the Keller groundwood process to the Fox River Valley, enabling papermaking from wood pulp. The process was invented in Germany in 1844 when Friedrich Keller experimented by pressing wood sticks against a grindstone and adding water to create small fibers suitable for making paper. This mechanical process is still used today to produce groundwood pulp.

Several rag paper manufacturers already were operating in the Appleton, Neenah, Menasha and Kaukauna areas, but with the new wood pulping process, attention turned to making paper from trees.

In 1873, Colonel Frambach co-founded a mill in Kaukauna – the first mill to install a machine for grinding pulpwood logs. Soon after, other pioneers in wood pulp manufacturing were producing paper from poplar trees.

The paper industry, particularly after introduction of the groundwood process, found that Wisconsin offered all that it needed to be successful – abundance of pure water, raw materials, power, skilled labor, and ready access to good markets.

The Civil War stimulated a greater demand for newspapers. It was followed by an era of invention and industrial growth. In 1888, the first paper mill was built on the Wisconsin River. Central Wisconsin would soon become another intensive area for papermaking.

Throughout its history, the Wisconsin paper industry has used recycled materials. When the first mill began in 1848, recycled cotton rags were the sole source of fiber. The use of recycled white wastepaper as a source of fiber was first reported in Wisconsin in 1873. Cotton fibers were the bulk of this recycling, although wood fibers from imported papers were probably included.

Recycling mills in Wisconsin had an annual capacity of 180,000 tons by 1925. By 1950 capacity had increased to nearly 300,000 tons. In the late 1970s, capacity was approaching one million tons. Today, Wisconsin's recycling mills turn 2.59 million tons of wastepaper into new, useful products annually.

The Wisconsin paper industry has proven to be one of the state's most stable economic contributors. Technological advances, an ability to adapt, and quality management have carried the industry through periods of economic challenges and business transitions.

Click on a link below to explore the history of papermaking!