The paper mill was established sometime in the mid- to late 1870s. It turned out about six tons of straw wrapping paper per day, shipping to Vermont and other distant places, as well as supplying the local area. Since the river supplied the power for the machines, the mill had to shut down every winter, and each spring the reopening, and the jobs it provided, were welcome.

The paper mill men discovered another leak in their bank last week and put in a coffer dam so as to repair the damage. The holes in the bank were no doubt made by muskrats.¹

F. D. Sweetser has sold the Dayton paper mill to the Columbia Paper Company, a member of the trust, for $20,000. The mill was Dayton’s chief industry, and as the trust has closed it indefinitely, another nail has been driven in the coffin of village ambitions.²

1. The Ottawa [Illinois] Free Trader, March 3, 1888, p. 8, col. 4
2. Free Trader, March 11, 1893, p. 7, col. 1