Property Record
3120 Riverside Ave
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Marinette & Menominee Paper Company Park Mill Dam |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 228005 |
| Location (Address): | 3120 Riverside Ave |
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| County: | Marinette |
| City: | Marinette |
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| Year Built: | 1920 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20142015 |
| Historic Use: | dam |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | Reinforced Concrete |
| Wall Material: | Concrete |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | This property consists of a c.1920 office building [23086], a 1920 concrete dam [228005], and a 1944 concrete power channel lock [228006]. The Marinette and Menominee Paper Company Park Mill Dam was constructed in 1920. It is a concrete gravity dam that crosses from a narrow island in the Menominee River to the north (Michigan) side of the river. It measures 28 feet high and 538 feet, 7 inches long. From north (Michigan) to south (Wisconsin), the dam consists of one section of overflow agee spillway, a section with seven tainter gates, an 18-foot wide log sluice and fishway (over which a small maintenance shed was constructed sometime after 1979), and a six-part overflow agee spillway. Concrete piers separate the agee spillway sections and frame the tainter gates. A 4-foot walkway with steel rails spans the dam. Over the tainter gates, rails and a steel superstructure allow the hoist mechanism to lift the gates. The property is notable as the remains of the Marinette and Menominee Paper Company which was established in Marinette in 1881. The company's first paper mill was located west of Hattie Street, along Riverside Avenue. The company moved to its existing location in 1920 and continued to operate as such through two changes in ownership (including the Continental Paper Company and the current owner, the Scott Paper Company). Although the property continues to function as a paper plant today, most of the historic elements of the complex are no longer extant, including all of the buildings that housed the original paper production machinery and equipment. Only the 1920 office, dam, and power channel lock remain; the remainder of the existing complex was constructed in the 1970s and 1980s. Although the Marinette and Menominee Paper Company was a significant contributor to the city's economy and industrial history, the loss of the historic buildings that housed the physical operations of the facility render it an incomplete representative of this history. No evidence was found to suggest that the dam or power channel lock represents any notable engineering innovations or unique capacities. The dam and lock were both previously surveyed in 2014. |
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| Bibliographic References: | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District. “Menominee River Third (Upper) Marinette Dam, Inventory No. 73.” Report Prepared for the State of Wisconsin, September 1979. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |