The power of the Oconto River was harnessed to help build the city of Oconto Falls. Logging, and the sawmill built on the banks of the river, led the development of the area. Pioneer, Alva Volk, wrote of the area, “extremely beautiful with tall, stately pines stretching far up into the heavens upon all sides, while the River, clear as crystal, unmolested, glided along with the utmost complacency, then plunged over a rocky abyss, and went foaming away below.”
Images are from the Oconto Falls Library, and the Wisconsin Historical Society.