| Additional Information: | A sprawling industrial complex located on the east side of the Chippewa River at the head of navigation on the river, known as the Eau Claire Dells. The oldest buildings were constructed of brick. Immediately adjacent to the mill structures are building owned by the City of Eau Claire and the Northern State Power Company and related to the power produced by the dam. (Note: The Sanborn Perris Maps - 1883, 1885, 1889, 1897, 1916, and 1931 - provide excellent views of the company's growth and the adjacent enterprises.)
The Eau Claire Pulp and Paper Mill was organized and incorporated in 1883 with the following officers: H.H. Hayden, president; James McIntire, vice-president; George B. Shaw, secretery; S.H. Wilcox, treasurer; and E.J. Pope, general manager (A,E). The company constructed the first buildings at the site of the Dells dam on the Chippewa River. (The Dells dam was completed in 1878.) In 1890, after encountering numerous difficulties, the Eau Claire Mill went into receivership. O.H. Ingram, one of eth city;s most prominent lumbermen, purchased the firm for $48,500 and subsequently "persuaded the Davis brothers, experienced paper makers of the Neenah-Menasha area, to come to Eau Claire and assume management of the new Dells Paper and Pulp Company" (D). The company, incorporated in 1894, was headed by David R. Davis, with Ingram as vice-president, Clarence Chamberlin as secretary, and Charles Ingram as treasurer.
In 1900 Ingram sold his interest in the coporation to the Davis family and in 1903 William L. Davis assumed the presidency, on the death of his brother. The 1914 history declared that the mill was the "largest institution in the city; gives employment to about four hundred people, and its products are sold in all parts of the United States" (F).
Currently, the enterprise is operated by Pope and Talbot, Inc. |
|---|
| Bibliographic References: | (A) Eau Claire Illustrated, 1891-92, p. 91.
(B) Eau Claire of Today, 1904, p. 14.
(C) Eau Claire Industrial Review, 1955, p. 43.
(D) Twining, C.E. 1975. Downriver, p. 279.
(E) 1884 Eau Claire City Directory.
(F) History of Eau Claire County, 1914, p. 694. |
|---|
