Origin of Cedar Creek / Mills on the Creek
(Double Sided Marker)
Origin of Cedar Creek
Dropping approximately eighty feet in two and half miles, Cedar Creek’s falling water power provided enough energy to drive Cedarburg’s many mills for over one hundred years. The creek rises from big and Little Cedar Lakes near West Bend, flowing about fifteen miles eastward and abruptly changing course southward in the Town of Cedarburg. Blocked by dense limestone rock in the township and cutting through a narrow valley, Cedar Creek turns toward the City of Cedarburg with full force.
Mills on the Creek
Recognizing the energy potential of Cedar Creek’s rapidly falling water, business speculators Frederick Hilgen and William Schroeder built a log and frame grist mill on the creek in 1844. Eleven years later, they replaced the wooden mill with the nearby stone Cedarburg Mill. Five stories high and massive in scale, Cedarburg Mill was built by Burchard Weber who constructed the building in large blocks of gray limestone. The mill could produce 120 barrels of flour a day, leading to four additional mills along the creek in the mid 19th century.
Marker is at the intersection of Columbia Road and Mequon Avenue, on the left when traveling east on Columbia Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
