You are now standing on the “Continental Divide”, a geological demarcation line which splits Northern Wisconsin.
North of “The Divide”, rivers flow to Lake Superior and finally to the Atlantic Ocean. These waterways are . . . — — Map (db m46685) HM
The arrival of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railroad in 1889 was a major factor in the economic development of Mercer’s isolated logging settlement. Timber and other natural resources could now be shipped year ‘round to markets. Much needed . . . — — Map (db m45098) HM
The Turtle Flambeau Flowage was born in 1926, when the Chippewa and Flambeau Improvement Company built a dam on the Flambeau River, downstream from its confluence with the Turtle River improving its usefulness for power-generating and papermaking . . . — — Map (db m59475) HM
For centuries Native Americans and voyagers using the Flambeau Trail carried their birch bark canoes and cargo across the wide “plain” where you are standing, between Echo Lake (called Big Turtle Lake) and Grand Portage Lake (Little . . . — — Map (db m45097) HM
In days of yesteryear, traveling south on the Flambeau Trail, you arrived at Big Turtle Lake (now Echo Lake) and Little Turtle Lake (now called either Grand Portage Lake or Tank Lake) to what is now Mercer. At Echo Lake you had a choice depending on . . . — — Map (db m46687) HM
America saw the vast forests of the Great lakes as an endless supply of the timber needed to settle the west. Farmers, factories and mills needed wood for fuel and building materials.
Men came to the northern forests to make their fortunes . . . — — Map (db m59479) HM
The felling of Iron County’s great stands of timber began in the late 1870’s. The white pine was the first to be cut. Down the Turtle River and over Lake of the Falls, buoyant pine logs were floated to sawmills further south.
Spring, when the . . . — — Map (db m46688) HM
The railroad pushed into northern Wisconsin in the 1870s, opening the deep forests for harvest. Now hardwoods such as maple, oak, spruce, cedar, balsam, birch and aspen could be cut.
More logs could be shipped by rail than by water so more men . . . — — Map (db m59480) HM
This camp was Carl Nelson’s headquarters camp. From this camp, he directed the woods operations and sent rail cars of timber south to the main line at Camp 8.
While all of the buildings are gone, artifacts found at the site tell a story of what . . . — — Map (db m59481) HM
Large, heavy cable remains from the pulley system (called a jammer), used to load the logs from the landing into the rail cars. Stove parts, railroad ties, a wash tub and glass bottles suggest a long term camp with railroad connections. . . . — — Map (db m59482) HM
William Henry Roddis realized that a fortune could be made in the woods.
In 1903, he purchased a parcel of land to build a mill in Park Falls. Roddis bought 35,000 acres of timber land in Iron and Ashland counties from Wisconsin Central . . . — — Map (db m59477) HM
In 1925, the Roddis company contracted with Carl Nelson, a jobber, to run the camps. Between 1925 and 1930, he chose the camp sites, bought supplies and delivered timber to the log landings.
From 1930 until the company abandoned logging in . . . — — Map (db m59478) HM
In 1925, the Chippewa and Flambeau Improvement Company began construction on a dam to create a water reservoir for hydroelectric power, where the Turtle, Manitowish, and Flambeau rivers join.
The Roddis company owned land in the area, which . . . — — Map (db m59476) HM
