Chippewa Falls

The Beginning (more than 1,000 years ago)
The Ojibwa people began a 500-year journey from somewhere on the shores of the "Great Salt Water" in the East, concluding on Madeline Island in about 1394.  In 1767, British explorer Jonathan Carver reported that every summer, Ojibwa from northern Wisconsin met with fur traders at the falls, a place which, when recorded on his map, became one of the earliest records of Native American activity in the Chippewa Falls area.  Michael Cadotte, a French-Canadian-Ojibwa fur trader, set up a trading post south of the falls in 1797.

The complex role of Native Americans in the history of Wisconsin and Chippewa Falls was diminished, as they were steadily displaced by a white society eager to carve out a community amidst a seemingly endless supply of natural resources.  However, the history of Chippewa Falls would be incomplete without acknowledging the significant contributions of Native Americans to this community which, in fact, continue to the present time.

The Lumbering Era (1836-1911)
In 1836, French native Jean Burnet was hired by the American Fur Company out of Prairie Du Chien to oversee the construction of a sawmill on the Chippewa River at the falls.  Chippewa Falls was home to the largest mill under one roof from 1836-1911.  By the mid-1850s, the sawmills were producing 100,000 board-feet of lumber each day.

With 90 saws in motion at one time, the mill yard was frequently full of lumber, shingles and laths produced by mill workers earning $1 a day.  Logjams were common, as sawed lumber piled up in the rivers.  Usually the logs gave way and came downriver without loss; however, sometimes bridges and dams were carried away by a jam of logs.

A City of Diversity (early-to-mid-1900s)
The lumbering industry began to decline in the early 1900s.  Chippewa Falls continued to thrive, due to efforts made to diversify from a sole reliance on lumber.

Some of the major industries that were well established include five shoe factories, two brickyards, machine shops, a flour mill, Chippewa Foundry and Machine Works, Chippewa Woolen Mill, six cigar factories, wood-working companies, Chippewa Candy Company, a tobacco warehouse, a broom factory, two cement works and Chippewa Paper Box Factory.

Downtown's Survival (mid-1960s)
With the introduction of more vehicle-oriented highway strip malls and shopping malls, many department stores, smaller retail and service businesses moved out of downtown.   While many downtown areas are dying, Chippewa Falls’ downtown is very much alive!

The Chippewa Falls Main Street is continuously working to restore the downtown area and to bring new and innovative programs to rejuvenate Chippewa's downtown.  They are successfully bringing back the quaint historic look, and they have received many prestigious awards to prove it.