Workers shifting iron ore from rail cars to ore docks, Lake Superior, ca. 1920.  Photographer Hugh McKenzie captured this scene of men balanced on rail cars high above a Lake Superior harbor, moving iron ore shipped in by train onto ships for transport throughout the Great Lakes and beyond. via: Great Lakes Maritime History Project, University of Wisconsin-Superior Wisconsinites: What’s the toughest job you’ve ever had? Share your story at recollectionwisconsin.org/stories and you might get featured on Wisconsin Public Radio!
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Workers shifting iron ore from rail cars to ore docks, Lake Superior, ca. 1920. 

Photographer Hugh McKenzie captured this scene of men balanced on rail cars high above a Lake Superior harbor, moving iron ore shipped in by train onto ships for transport throughout the Great Lakes and beyond.

via: Great Lakes Maritime History Project, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Wisconsinites: What’s the toughest job you’ve ever had? Share your story at recollectionwisconsin.org/stories and you might get featured on Wisconsin Public Radio!

Source: digital.library.wisc.edu

The Fox was not the only river that built Wisconsin’s paper industry. The Wisconsin River also attracted many paper manufacturers, including the Nekoosa Paper Company. These aerial views show the Nekoosa Paper mill complex as well as the dam and the village of Nekoosa, both built by the company beginning in 1893. The Nekoosa mill remains in operation today under the ownership of Domtar, a Canadian corporation. 

via: McMillan Memorial Library

Source: content.mpl.org

These views of the Oconto Falls Paper and Power Company in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin show the papermaking process at its beginning and end points—raw logs and finished rolls of paper. In the first image, logs are soaked in the “hot pond” to remove the bark before they are ground into wood pulp. The second image shows the finishing room, where paper toweling is wound into large rolls. The photos are part of a series by local photographer John Larson documenting Oconto Falls Paper and Power in 1949.

via: Oconto Falls Memory Project, Oconto Falls Public Library by way of InfoSoup Memory Project by OWLSnet

Source: memory.infosoup.org

Kimberly-Clark Company: 50th Anniversary, 1872-1922. One of the largest and longest-lived paper producers in the Fox Valley is Kimberly-Clark. This pamphlet was published in 1922 to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. The title page illustration highlights the water and forest resources that stood behind the company’s large-scale paper production. In 1922, Kimberly-Clark boasted 400 employees at seven paper mills in Wisconsin, New York, and Ontario. Today, it is a multinational corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas. via: Turning Points in Wisconsin History, Wisconsin Historical Societyread more: A detailed timeline of the company’s history is available from the Kimberly-Clark website. 
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Kimberly-Clark Company: 50th Anniversary, 1872-1922.

One of the largest and longest-lived paper producers in the Fox Valley is Kimberly-Clark. This pamphlet was published in 1922 to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. The title page illustration highlights the water and forest resources that stood behind the company’s large-scale paper production. In 1922, Kimberly-Clark boasted 400 employees at seven paper mills in Wisconsin, New York, and Ontario. Today, it is a multinational corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

via: Turning Points in Wisconsin History, Wisconsin Historical Society
read more: A detailed timeline of the company’s history is available from the Kimberly-Clark website. 

Source: content.wisconsinhistory.org

Logs for paper mills on the Fox River, 1901-1910. The paper industry has been an important part of Wisconsin’s economy since the 1870s. Manufacturing paper from wood pulp requires lots of trees, but it also requires lots of water. The natural advantages of the Fox River made the Fox Valley cities of Appleton, Kaukauna, Neenah and Menasha some of the largest paper producers in the Midwest. via: Lawrence University Archives
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Logs for paper mills on the Fox River, 1901-1910.

The paper industry has been an important part of Wisconsin’s economy since the 1870s. Manufacturing paper from wood pulp requires lots of trees, but it also requires lots of water. The natural advantages of the Fox River made the Fox Valley cities of Appleton, Kaukauna, Neenah and Menasha some of the largest paper producers in the Midwest.

via: Lawrence University Archives

Source: digitalmedia.lawrence.edu

Two women stand in the ruins of a lead smelter, Mineral Point, 1880-1910. Smelting was an essential step in the process of getting valuable lead from mine to market. Lead-bearing ore was heated in log furnaces to melt the lead, which ran out into clay molds and re-solidified. This “pig lead” was shipped throughout the country and used to manufacture a variety of products including lead shot. By the time these women posed for a photo in the ruins of this stone smelting furnace, Mineral Point’s lead mining industry was long gone. However, mining operations—of zinc, not lead—continued in the community through the turn of the century. via: Glass Plate Negative Collection, Mineral Point Historical Society
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Two women stand in the ruins of a lead smelter, Mineral Point, 1880-1910.

Smelting was an essential step in the process of getting valuable lead from mine to market. Lead-bearing ore was heated in log furnaces to melt the lead, which ran out into clay molds and re-solidified. This “pig lead” was shipped throughout the country and used to manufacture a variety of products including lead shot.

By the time these women posed for a photo in the ruins of this stone smelting furnace, Mineral Point’s lead mining industry was long gone. However, mining operations—of zinc, not lead—continued in the community through the turn of the century.

via: Glass Plate Negative Collection, Mineral Point Historical Society

Source: content.wisconsinhistory.org

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