| CN local services the immense Verso Corp. paper mill at Wisconsin Rapids, WI on 4 Jul. '17. Incorporated as the Consolidated Water Power Co. on 16 July 1894; it was formed through the merger of 6 industries using the Grand Rapids of the Wisconsin River for water power. Intending to expand into paper making, the name was changed to Consolidated Water Power & Paper Co. in ‘02. The original part of the paper mill and an adjacent 2,000-ft. dam were completed in '04. Paper production commenced on 3 Jun. ’04, on “the world’s first electrically powered paper machines.” Decades of growth and expansion added mills at Biron, Appleton, Stevens Point, and Whiting, in WI, plus Port Arthur, Ontario, and other facilities. The name was changed to Consolidated Papers, Inc., in '62. Nearly 4 more decades of family-owned growth, expansion, and innovations to the paper manufacturing process followed, until it was sold to Stora Enso Oyj, Finland, in Aug. '00. In '07, Stora Enso sold six paper mills to Cerberus Capital Management LP, which created NewPage Holdings, Inc., Miamisburg, OH. Verso Paper Corp., Memphis, TN, acquired paper mills in Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Duluth, and Escanaba, from NewPage on 7 Jan. ’15. My dad helped design and install some Valmet machinery in this historic facility while it was still Consolidated Papers. I believe these are former MILW rails, but old maps suggest that the GB&W, SOO, and C&NW could have also served this facility. |