Lumber Mill

The Little Wolf Lumber Company was the first industry in Manawa. What I know about it doesn't amount to much, except to say that there were apparently two sawmills built on this spot, and later a hydroelectric plant, which you can see in the photos of the modern dam. The dam in these pictures isn't the same, although this dam provided hydraulic power to the lumber company and the Nelson-Esche feed mill across the river. The lumber company also had a pretty good steam engine in there, to judge from the exhaust venting from the side of the building.

The photo below is actually pretty huge; if you click on it to blow it up full size, you're going to get some fantastic detail of not only the lumber mill, but also the town.

The railroad spur across the north end of Bridge Street was built very early in the town's life, apparently to serve the lumber mill. At least three box cars of the Green Bay & Western line are spotted by the lumber yard (one hidden behind the roof line), and a lone car is spotted across the street.

The elevated railway in the foreground was used to transport sawn lumber across the street to an open area where it was piled up prior to shipment. There's a sewage treatment plant and an athletic park over there now.

The warehouse just beyond the sawmill stood until 1972. The roof of the Odd Fellows Hall is just visible over the top of it.

In the blurry, washed-out horizon, you can make out the roof and steeple of the Sacred Heart Catholic church, directly above the two coupled box cars.

The town's water tower will be built up there, too, in about thirty years.

If you pan all the way to the right, I believe the warehouse beside the lone box car is on the spot where the milk condensory will eventually, but not quite yet, pop into our town's landscape. Also all the way to the right, in the far distance, is the steeple of St. Paul's Lutheran church. The bell tower of the high school might be just to the right of it, or that might be a tear in the picture.