♪ ♪ [flag rustling, river rushing] - The power of falling water fueled the growth of Appleton's pioneer industries.

Flour mills, woolen mills, and rag paper.

[urgent instrumental, military marching] As local militias headed to Camp Randall in Madison for training, the Civil War would transform Appleton's paper industry, bringing about huge changes to the city and the region.

- Carol Couillard: The Civil War marked a change in the way that the whole country communicated.

So people became used to getting the news during the Civil War because we had the telegraph.

People were used to that, and they demanded it, and so newspapers really had to scramble to keep up, and the thing that held them back really was having enough newsprint.

[birds chirping] - At the time, a change in Appleton's wheat industry would help the city answer the nationwide call for more paper.

[horse neighing, reins clicking] Wheat farming had moved to more western states, and Appleton's small flour mills couldn't compete with the giant modern mills running in Minneapolis.

Appleton's papermakers bought up closing wheat mills and began installing new machines that could grind up wood for pulp instead of cotton rags, allowing Appleton to help meet the demand for more newsprint.

- Carol Couillard: Appleton's a really desirable place for papermaking because it has everything you need to make paper.

You need some sort of fiber, you need water, and you need a power source, and Appleton had all three of those in abundance.

A lot of the infrastructure was already here.

The flour mills all had water wheels already.

They knew how to get the goods to the different markets.

And so, it was just kind of perfect that they found something that they could manufacture and really take the lead on.

[steam engine chugs, blows whistle] - A chance meeting on a train would further jump-start Appleton's papermaking expansion.

[train chugs, rings signal bell] Henry Rogers, who made a fortune in western land speculation and silver mining, used that fortune to open banks in Colorado and Wyoming.

- George Schroeder: He starts the first bank in the state of Wyoming in Cheyenne.

Why does he pick Cheyenne, Wyoming?

A little thing called the Transcontinental Railroad is coming through.

And when opportunity knocks, Henry wants to be there to answer.

When the railroad arrives in 1867, he now makes another fortune financing the economic explosion that follows the railroad.

The railroad is also another part of the story here because on the railroad between Cheyenne to Chicago, he's going back and forth, he meets two gentlemen, William and John Van Nortwick.

Their dad owns the biggest paper mill west of Ohio.

It's right outside of Chicago, and its biggest customer is the Chicago Tribune, the newspaper, but it can't keep up with demand.

So, Henry's got another great idea.

He's got the fortune.

They've got the technical expertise.

Let's get into the paper business, and they've gotta pick a spot.

Where do they pick?

Appleton, Wisconsin because it's perfect for the paper industry.

- Rogers and the Van Nortwicks formed the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company in 1876.

Soon the mill was grinding out pulp for Chicago and making six-and-a-half tons of newsprint a day.

- George Schroeder: The Rogers and Van Nortwicks aren't alone when it comes to paper mills in Appleton.

There are others who will recognize the benefits of Appleton for the paper industry.

- Kimberly-Clark & Company expanded from nearby Neenah.

Opening a series of mills in Appleton, including the Atlas Mill, one of the largest in the country.

- Carol Couillard: Kimberly-Clark & Company, when they built the Atlas, they were in what we would think of as mainstream paper.

So, writing paper, Manila paper, all those different things.

The Atlas Mill kind of set itself apart because Kimberly-Clark then ventured into wallpaper, which was a huge moneymaker for them, and it was huge for the Atlas.

- George Schroeder: Appleton ends up with the highest concentration of paper mills in the world.

By 1890, there are 22 mills just between Appleton and Kaukauna.

And so, they're cranking out pulp and paper for a national market.

I mean, it's why we still call the valley "the paper valley."

One of the essential parts of the story are the workers in the mill.

- Carol Couillard: The Appleton Crescent was running headlines of bring more people here, bring more industry here.

There's room on the river for everyone.

- George Schroeder: They're attracting people from all over the country and all over the world, and those are the people who are really driving the explosion of growth in Appleton.

Appleton grows 400% in the 20 years from 1860 to 1880.

[people chatting, trolley ringing] - Carol Couillard: One of the interesting things about the paper industry in Appleton is that it didn't just have a lot of mills, which it did.

There was a lot of supporting industry that was really important in helping the industry flourish.

One thing that was really important is just the construction companies.

A lot of them built their business around constructing these huge mills.

Not only did they construct the mills.

They would go in and do machine repair.

It was a very specialized industry.

A lot of the companies began here, and they work worldwide.

It was something else that really set Appleton apart.

- The paper industry also attracted paper-related companies like the Appleton Wire Works, creating a highly specialized product for the industry.

- Dustin Mack: And they saw that there were no wire factories in the Western United States.

So they moved out into this area and began making wire mesh, and eventually became the largest producer in the world.

[factory sounds] - Wire mesh is critical to the papermaking process, straining out the water from the pulp slurry.

And at the same time, creating a bed to make a continuous sheet of paper.

♪ ♪ - Carol Couillard: They couldn't have one wire out of place, or it would obviously mark all the paper that they made, and it had to be woven in one continual looping screen.

They called it "the clothing for the paper machines."

- Dustin Mack: So, wire weavers were often the most skilled workers within the wire industry.

They had to go through an apprenticeship over a number of years to learn exactly how to weave wire without any imperfection.

They would often work in teams of two or three, pushing a shuttle back and forth on a large loom in order to make the weave perfect, but also to keep an eye on the process.

So, any little imperfections earlier on in the weave would screw up the rest of the sheet.

- To meet the demand for new kinds of paper, the Wisconsin Paper Industry partnered with Lawrence College to create the Institute of Paper Chemistry in 1929.

Lawrence constructed a building and began a program of researching and teaching paper science.

This research resulted in innovations that helped paper manufacturers improve paper quality and production.

With plentiful natural resources and a highly skilled workforce, Appleton's paper industry led the way in answering the national call for more paper and creating new kinds of paper products.

- Dustin Mack: Appleton was at the right place at the right time to serve that need.