Like many towns in northern Wisconsin, Oconto Falls began as a sawmill site in 1845. Having the Oconto River run through it, however, gave it additional advantage as that river also fell over a falls of considerable height. Water power was free power back then so when a rail line was built through the town, businessmen saw the potential for larger prospects. Almost immediately a new company, the Falls Mfg. Co., was formed that began making wood pulp; by the 1890s paper was added. Over the next century and into the twenty-first, a paper mill of some sort has made Oconto Falls its home. This history is explored in some detail and with accompanying photos, tells the story of one town's major industry from 1845 to 2019.
