Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company

Consolidated Papers, Inc. (CPI) was a paper manufacturer headquartered in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. It was incorporated as the Consolidated Water Power Company on 16 July 1894. Over time it expanded to include operations in Biron, Stevens Point, Whiting, Appleton and Port Arthur, Ontario. The company was an innovator in the production of coated paper. In 2000, the company was bought by the Finnish company Stora Enso. The former Consolidated paper mills were sold in 2007 to NewPage, which was in turn acquired by Verso in 2015.

Wisconsin Rapids (previously Grand Rapids) sits on what was once called the Grand Rapids of the Wisconsin River. The Wisconsin River drops twenty-seven feet at the main rapids and sixty feet overall. Early settlers used islands in the rapids to develop water power for a flour mill, machine shop, saw mill and the Grand Rapids Pulp and Paper Co. In 1888, the Centralia Pulp and Water Power Company began operations 2.5 miles down river from the Grand Rapids, expanding to making paper in 1891.

The Consolidated Water Power Company was incorporated on 16 July 1894 with the goal of consolidating the six companies using portions of the water power of the Grand Rapids. After disputes, Nels Johnson and J.D. Witter, the last two original owners, purchased the remainder of the company in 1901, renaming it the Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company the following year. Witter died in 1902, followed by Johnson nine months later. Witter’s son-in-law, George W. Mead, took over as president. The 2,000 foot long dam was completed in March 1904. It was made from stone filled timber cribs with hemlock beams. The mill became operational on April 26, 1904 and began producing paper on June 3. An early client was the Methodist Sunday Schools, which used sixty tons of paper monthly.

In 1911, Consolidated took over the nearby Biron mill from the Grand Rapids Pulp and Paper Co., which became the Biron Division. In 1916, it absorbed the Interlake Pulp & Paper Company of Appleton, which became the Interlake Division. In 1918, the company built a hydroelectric dam at Stevens Point, adding paper machines in 1919. With the acquisition of the Newaygo Timber Company in 1920, Consolidated expanded its timber holdings from Wisconsin and Minnesota to Ontario. In 1922, the company purchased a pulp and paper mill in Port Arthur, Ontario. In 1929, the Wisconsin Rapids and Biron mills converted from newsprint to book and writing papers.

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