Cedarburg Wire and Nail Factory

The Cedarburg Wire and Nail Factory is a former sawmill, grist mill, factory, and hydroelectric plant on Cedar Creek located in the Town of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, United States. The stone mill was built in 1871 for $21,000 and was originally known as the Excelsior Mill.[1]

The mill produced both flour and lumber[1] and used the hydropower of the Columbia Mill just upstream by way of a flume. In 1885,[2] a large fire destroyed the wooden buildings and gutted the stone mill building causing the business to shut down.[1] In 1890, Columbia Mill owner John Weber bought the property[1][3] and retooled the mill as a wire and nail factory.[1] The dam was reconstructed in 1934.[4] The factory and hydroelectric scheme continued to operate until the 1960s.

See also
Mills on Cedar Creek
Mill Name Year Built Products Produced Notes
Concordia Mill 1853 Grain Dam washed out and removed 1996
Excelsior Mill, later Cedarburg Wire and Nail Factory 1871 Grain, lumber, drawn steel, hydroelectricity
Columbia Mill 1843 Grain Demolished
Cedarburg Mill 1844 Grain Rebuilt 1855 with current stone structure
Hilgen and Wittenberg Woolen Mill 1864 Textiles

References
  1. Kelm, Dorothy. "Excelsior Mill - Cedarburg Nail Company". Early history of Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. digicoll.library.wisc.edu. p. 29. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  2. "4807 COLUMBIA RD | Property Record". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  3. Gierach, Ryan. (2003). Cedarburg : a history set in stone. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. ISBN 978-0-7385-2431-3. OCLC 53883880.
  4. "Dam Inspection - Report". dnr.wi.gov. Retrieved 2020-12-09.


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