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M.J. Wallrich Land & Lumber Company
Shawano, Wisconsin
Shawano, Wisconsin
Wallrich Lumber was located between the Soo Line Railroad tracks and Anderson Avenue, where Shawano Wood Products is presently located. The house across the road was the location of the lumber yard offices. Heritage Hardwoods bought all of this property.
The Torborgs location is where the retail lumberyard was located. This was sold to Vertack Building Materials late 60’s and they later sold to Torborgs. A fire broke out right before the time of sale and Torborgs built the new facility.
The company was incorporated under the laws of the state of Wisconsin in 1910 under the name of M. J. Wallrich Land Company. The first officers and stockholders were: President, M. J. Wallrich; vice president, D. H. George; Secretary, A. M. Andrews; Treasurer, A. C. Weber. The M. J. Wallrich Land Company was created for the purpose of converting the land holdings of the President, M. J. Wallrich, into a corporation. These holdings consisted of timber lands in Shawano, Ashland, Bayfield, Forest, Oconto, and Langlade counties and covered 34,377 acres. At the time of incorporation, the lands were cruised and appraised by A. C. Weber and F. W. Andrews, who were considered competent appraisers and estimators.
The standing timber was computed on the following stumpage prices:
Pine $10
Basswood $6
Hemlock $2.5
Birch $5
Tamarack $2.5
Beech $3
Oak $20
Elm $6
Maple $2.5
Cedar $4
Ash $4
A forest fire did considerable damage to the holdings of the Land Company in 1910; and while the company did not wish to engage in the manufacturing business at that time, it did want to salvage the timber. A contract was therefore entered into with Ole Morgan of Morgan Siding to log four sections of this burned over timber at a price of $9.00 per M., delivered at the Morgan Mill.
Following is a list of some of the early logging contractors with whom the M. J. Wallrich Land Company had the pleasure of doing business. Fred Larson, Otto Tischer, Melvin Robbins, Peter Lindquist, Joe Goldberg, Wm. Alft. In addition to the logging by the above contractors, the company operated its own camps at White Clay Lake, in charge of R. G. Johnson; at Bear Lake in charge of Fred Larson; and two camps called the Wolf River Camps No. 1 and No. 2, operated by August Buettner and Fred Moesch.
At that time the only outlets for the company’s products were the paper mills and the veneer plants. The Menasha Woodenware was a good customer for its logs. M. J. Wallrich was a firm believer in the hardwoods of the North, and this belief led him to purchase a large amount of cut-over land on which only the hardwood and hemlock remained—the floatable timber (pine and basswood) had been removed and driven down the Wolf River to saw mill towns such as Oshkosh. Because of the inaccessibility of this hardwood timber, no one believed that it would have any value. M. J. Wallrich had the faith and foresight to acquire as much of this inaccessible timber as he could; and then had the courage to help promote the Wisconsin & Northern Railroad which opened this territory to the lumber industry. M. J. Wallrich was the attorney for this railroad from its inception until it was sold in August of 1923 to the Soo Railroad. The Shawano Abstract Company was purchased in 1924. Prior to that time the M. J. Wallrich Land Company had been a substantial stockholder in the Abstract Company, and had faith in its future.
Prior to 1921, the M. J. Wallrich Land Company had sold its logs to whomever made them the best offer, but in 1921 the Land Company acquired the property of the Catencamp Lumber Company, who operated a mill on the Wolf River just north of the city of Shawano. This location is the present site of the M. J. Wallrich Land & Lumber Company’s main plant, sawmill, planning mill, and retail yard. The Zachow Land & Lumber Company (consisting of a sawmill, planing mill, and retail yard in Cecil, Wisconsin) was acquired in 1926; and the Wallrich Lumber & Fuel Company was organized to operate the yard at Cecil, which assured the Land Company of another outlet for its lumber in the building grades.
The M. J. Wallrich Land Company, having now definitely embarked in the lumber manufacturing business, changed its name to the M. J. Wallrich Land & Lumber Company in January of 1928. In June of 1938, Marshall Wallrich (who had previously acted as Sales Manager) was put in charge as manager of the sawmill, Wholesale and Retail operations. At that time the company employed 80 men in its mill, and operated on a night and day shift. Stress was placed on the retail department which continued to grow year after year. The depression in the 30’s had a hand in curbing the mill operations in that period. M. J. Wallrich passed away on March 2, 1951, following a short illness. He had been president and general manager of the company since its organization in 1910. His sons thereupon took over the management of the company, with Caspar Wallrich as President; Marshall Wallrich as Vice President and Treasurer, and Matthew Wallrich as Secretary. The retail division was merged with the original company in July of 1941, and Marshall Wallrich took charge as general manager, and carried on until November 20, 1944, when he was stricken with a severe coronary thrombosis, and was unable to continue his duties as general manager. C. B. Van Rossum (company auditor for many years) became Assistant Manager.
The M. J. Wallrich Land and Lumber Company operated a sawmill and planning mill in the Town of Wescott, just outside the city limits of Shawano, and maintained retail outlets at Shawano, Cecil and Peshtigo where complete lines of building materials handled. The present officers of the company are: Caspar Wallrich, President; Marshall Wallrich, Vice President and Treasurer; Michael Wallrich, Secretary; Caroline Nikolay, Assistant Secretary; William Gruner, General Manager.