In 1889, Norman Brokaw of Kaukauna and W.I. Edmonds of
Appleton came to Marathon County to investigate reports of
excellent and unexploited waterpower. Their idea was to
establish a paper mill. After examining several locations along
the Wisconsin River, they settled on a spot about seven miles
north of Wausau. After obtaining the rights to the use of the
waterpower there, they started building a mill and dam
July 12, 1899. When finished in 1901, the Wausau Paper
Company became the largest paper mill in Wisconsin.
It was the second mill on the Wisconsin River.
With the isolation of the location, it was necessary to build a
company town to house the workers for the mill, and soon
the community of Brokaw emerged. A classic company town,
the paper company provided everything the new community
would need. By 1903, the village featured a school, a Methodist
Church, company store, clubhouse and company housing.
Since the construction of the major bridge over the Wisconsin
River, and the connection to Highway 51 in 1967, the population
of the village had been declining (although a new subdivision
on the west side of the river had nearly doubled the population
by 2010).
In 2011, Wausau Papers had new owners who decided that
the colored specialty paper long produced in Brokaw could
be made at another of their plants. The mill was closed in the
spring of 2012, ending more than a century of paper production.
The loss of the mill, though, devastated the small community
financially. Brokaw lost its village status and was incorporated
into the newly incorporated Village of Maine.
Although the Brokaw paper mill is gone, its loss does not
diminish the legacy of a century of papermaking on the
Wisconsin River.
