Columbia Rd. and Mequon Ave., Cedarburg, Ozaukee County 

Recognizing the energy potential of Cedar Creek's rapidly falling water, business speculators Frederick Hilgen and William Schroeder built a log-and-frame gristmill on the creek in 1844. Eleven years later, they replaced the wooden mill with the nearby stone Cedarburg Mill. Five stories high and massive in scale, Cedarburg Mill was built by Burchard Weber, who constructed the building in large blocks of gray limestone. The mill could produce 120 barrels of flour a day, leading to four addi­tional mills along the creek in the mid-19th century.

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]