| CN local passes behind Whiting Paper Co., 100 River St., Menasha, WI, via the remnants of the former C&NW mainline at Menasha, WI on 30 Apr. '14. They were pulling up to clear the turnout that will bring them back on the rails to the right. The remnants of a spur for Whiting Paper Co. are on the far right and the remnants of a spur for the idle Menasha Utilities plant are on the left. Originally the Whiting and Gilbert Paper mill, it was built along the canal on the site of an abandoned dry dock in 1882 (1881). It became the George A. Whiting Paper Mills in 1886, after he bought out the Gilbert brothers (who then founded a new paper company with their father and another brother). The name was changed to George A. Whiting Paper Co. in 1911. Much of the current facility was built after a devastating fire and explosion on 24 Aug. 1888. The 5th generation of the Whiting family sold the company to an employee in Mar. '14. The name was changed to Whiting Paper Co. The mill produced matte board, scrapbooking paper, high-end art paper, and its unique Kona Paper, made from recycled burlap coffee bean bags. The paper machines were shut down on 30 Mar. '16, after 134 years of providing quality paper products. When the closure was announced, it was claimed the company could not maintain the sales volume needed to remain profitable, which seems to be the catch phrase of every 21st Century American corporation when they shut down any historic industrial facility. |