History
Mosinee’s history is as colorful as the people who have called our town home for generations. Originally known as Little Bull Falls for the nearby roaring falls, the city became known as Mosinee in 1857, either as a tribute to a local Indian Chief or derived from the Indian name for a bend in the “Great River” known as “Moose Knee.” The Village was incorporated in 1899, and Joseph Dessert (the town’s leading businessman) was its first president.
The community’s early history begins with its first sawmill, which was opened by John L. Moore in 1836 to serve the area’s burgeoning lumber industry. Soon after the establishment of the first sawmill, a boarding house, grocery store, saloon, tannery, gristmill and blacksmith shop opened, and the original city began to take shape. As the lumber industry grew to dominate the region, additional sawmills sprang up throughout to meet production needs. In fact, over 20 sawmills produced 125 million feet of manufactured lumber annually at the height of production. The lumber was floated in large rafts down the Wisconsin River to markets throughout the state.
Although the lumber business boomed, for many years transportation to the area remained difficult until the construction of the first bridge over the Little Bull Falls in 1856. The arrival of the railroad in 1875 further simplified the transportation of freight in and out of the region. Even today, the Canadian National Railway (www.cn.ca) provides important freight transportation service to Mosinee, Knowlton and adjoining towns. Similarly, civilian transportation greatly improved in the second half of the 19th century as The Concord Stage Coach service and steamboats carried passengers to destinations throughout the area.
Today, life in Mosinee remains intricately tied to the Wisconsin River, and the Wausau Paper Corporation (a descendent of those early sawmills and one of Mosinee’s major businesses) still depends on the river’s power and water supply for its operations. The river also provides a beautiful, scenic setting for year-round recreation and a backdrop for the tranquil, comfortable lifestyle Mosinee’s residents experience.
The community of Moon, located in both the town of Mosinee and the town of Bergen, was also shaped by the lumber industry and has an intriguing history dating back to 1880. A sawmill, lumberyard and many logging camps provided work. The original settlers expanded the community to include a church, store, blacksmith shop, a dance hall, post office, cheese factory, an orphanage, a school, beauty shop and a tavern. Several original homes and some landmarks of those businesses and livelihoods still exist and hold deep sentiment in Moon.
The church has been transformed into the nostalgic and sophisticated, Two Sisters Wedding Chapel. The tavern, Moon Saloon, now owned by Michael and Mary Gebert, continues to feed and water the locals and travelers.
The Town of Kronenwetter was established in 1887. The town was named after lumberman and state legislator Sebastian Kronenwetter, who immigrated to this area from Germany.
Kronenwetter’s first sanitary district was annexed by the City of Mosinee in 1987, along with most of what is now the City of Mosinee lying east of the Wisconsin River and including the Central Wisconsin Airport and the (now) Central Wisconsin Business Park.
Citizens of the Town of Kronenwetter established the Kronenwetter Sanitary District #2 in the 1990s. The system, now the Village’s sewer and water utility, serves nearly 5,000 citizens as well as a rapidly growing business and industrial segment of the area’s economy.
In November of 2002, 11 square miles of the Town of Kronenwetter became, by referendum vote, the incorporated Village of Kronenwetter. Three months later, the remaining 41 square miles of the Town of Kronenwetter, not to be left behind, petitioned to be annexed into the newly-formed village and was accepted by village board vote. Thus, in February of 2003, the transformation to village was complete and Kronenwetter became the largest village in Wisconsin, measuring 52 square miles. The current population of Kronenwetter is 6,162.
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