The Abandoned Port Edwards Paper Mill Investigation

We with @twohalvesofasoul like to ensure our investigations are shared not only through the telling of our experiences, but through the stories of others who were present. This first blog post was written by our cousin, Nicole Dankemeyer, sharing the details of our first paranormal investigation dated back to November 2019. With this post, she shares not only the history of the shut down Port Edwards paper mill, but her accompaniment alongside us as we roamed the abandoned factory late at night. She shares her point-of-view investigating the mill a handful of times with us and without us, way before renting the mill for business even began. Thank you in advance for reading, and we hope you enjoy the telling of Nicole's side of our investigations.

The year is 1840. The smell of freshly cut wood with a hint of sawdust and motor oil, tickles your nose hairs. As you make your way down the path, you notice loggers, heading south down the Wisconsin River, towards the newly built sawmill. It was the first mill built in the, formally known as, Frenchtown, and was the first mill to be built in the central Wisconsin Area! John Edwards would soon be the known owner of this historical landmark and would later earn the reward of having the town renamed after him, Port Edwards. Fast forward to the end of the 19th Century, John would find himself running for the Wisconsin legislature as a representative in 1890. Shortly after that election he would then move to the shining capital of Madison, Wisconsin, thus leaving his business to be managed by his son-in-law, Lewis M. Alexander. Alexander had noticed that the surrounding sawmills in central Wisconsin were going out of business, and he decided to take the risk of converting the sawmill into a paper mill, the conversion being completed by 1896. Although the change was challenging, the company did end up succeeding in the long run, and the town of Port Edwards became heavily dependent on the mill.

So, you could imagine just how devastating it was when the Port Edwards mill eventually had to close its doors a little over a century later. Flipping the pages of this story all the way to 2008, the economy had crashed and over 500 mill employees had been let go. Growing up, working at that mill was the job to get, and if you got it you were set for life. However, that is no longer the case, even my own mother’s job at the neighboring Nekoosa paper mill was thrown under the job elimination bus. Many people have moved on to other mills in the area, such as Verso in Wisconsin Rapids (now also closed as of 2020), the Biron Paper mill, Neenah Paper and Pixelle in Stevens Point, WI.

So, what has happened to the Port Edwards mill? Honestly, nothing. It stands there, empty. Its haunted shell watches over the remainder of Port Edwards. They were going to demolish the building, however the iconic Nepco tower has been labeled as a historical landmark and cannot be destroyed. So, it still stands, tall and vacant, with piles upon piles of rubble wrapping the building up as if for its own personal warmth. You can pull up to this structure at anytime of day and just notice something very off putting. It’s energy, the vibe, whatever you desire to call it, its not a very good feeling. The feeling as though something is lurking around every corner, watching your every move. When you go at night, the energy intensifies, you think it might be your mind playing tricks on you, or maybe you’re going insane. You’re not, those are definitely two figures standing in the window, looking down at you, waiting for you to come in.

I have many stories about this cursed property, but this is the first one I have ever caught footage of. Although my personal stories start back in 2017, this particular story starts only 2 years later, in the late fall of 2019. The mill had been temporarily converted into storing hemp. A hemp warehouse, you could say. I, having just lost my job, was on the market for some new and easy work. I had stumbled upon an article written by our local newspaper. It stated that this abandoned piece of property had been recently put to some use. “Local hemp farmers had decided to use this mill as a site to prepare their product for manufacturing” the article explained. Now as my eyes followed along with the text, I realized just how cool this job would be. I just so happened to have been friends with one of the workers on social media. So, I reached out, and just like that, I was in like Flinn!

My cousin, Whitney, who I had just reconnected with a couple weeks prior, had also been interested. Thus began our journey, a journey of ghosts, ghouls, and…other things. We had noticed the energy was off at this place. The minute you walked in through the plastic covered doorway; you felt a shift in the air. I can remember my first day, my boss and I had been looking at old memorabilia when suddenly we hear loud footsteps, creeping up behind us. We both turned around, expecting to see one of our colleagues approaching. However, we were surprised to see that no one was there. Or was someone there? Maybe a passed mill worker who had been going about his duties, or maybe it was something far from just your average spirit. We may never know, but what we do know is that something had made the sound of footsteps and that was only the beginning. Days would go by like this. From the crackling of a speaker to lights flickering, to some days where there was nothing but silence. We knew it was a very old building, but some things were just unexplainable.

Why is it that the unexplainable things happen at night? Does the ambience of the cold darkness make the dead feel more alive? The dead were watching us that night, the night of November 15th of 2019. There were five of us, my two cousins, my boss, a coworker, and myself. As our boss pushed all of his weight into that giant red sliding door, only to expose the dark emptiness that was beyond our workspace. Nothing but a single light was on in the distance. The soft glow of that light only illuminated only a single spec of that entire space, for you could barely see what hid in the corners of the room. As we slowly made our way through that large empty space, you felt the eyes of the shadows, following you, watching you, waiting to see what you were going to do next. Of course, we didn’t get very much footage and we were quite inexperienced, though we thought we had a pretty good idea of what was all cooped up there. From the whispers in the basement to the shadow off our boss’s shadow. That was enough to frighten us for one night.

I had dream one night, during my employment there. In this dream, I was doing my job, pretty boring, I know, but it gets interesting. A demon had appeared, he had grey skin, blacked out eyes with green pupils, and curved horns. He spoke to me in this demonic gibberish I could not understand. I remembered he then clawed my back, and green smoke began to leave my body. I woke up to my back burning in pain. I never had a dream like that before, I had figured it must’ve meant something. Sure enough in certain places in that mill I would feel sick for no reason, and then once I’d leave I would feel completely fine. Whitney had pointed out that it could be that very demon from my dream. I have had many dreams of the mill since then, but the demon has yet to make another appearance. Whether it was a warning, or a fear tactic, I’m not afraid of that demon, for he has no power over me.

The last experience I had here with my witchy cousins, Whitney and Swan, was in the late spring of 2020. As we made our way through the cold and barren chain link fence, we found ourselves in the presence of the unearthly structure once again. For the remainder of the time, we stayed in the vehicle. Whitney had then pointed out that she saw two figures, staring at us from one of the windows. Shortly after, Swan said she saw it too. I for one, had no idea where they were talking about. I thought that they were seeing these figures on top of the building, so I got out to investigate. The two witches were scared, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so frightened before, however that did not stop me from wanting to see what they were seeing. Unfortunately, I never did get to see those figures that night. I got back into the car disappointed, and without hesitation, we made our abrupt escape.

It wasn’t until a few months later, when I then saw those same two shadow figures in that same window, looking down at me and a group of friends as we were exploring the area. In a building with absolutely no power running to it, it had a light on in that window. Thankfully, I was able to catch a picture of it.

In conclusion, this paper is not meant to convince you of anything, rather to make you think. To open your mind to the possibilities that there just might be something more out there. Maybe there is life after death, after all. How do you explain the footsteps, the shadows, the lights on with no power? We might not have the explanations, but what we do know is that there is a chance that we are in the midst of something greater, something that might be as powerful as us, if not more powerful. However, with the protection from our guides, we are allowed to explore these thoughts, these places, and find out what we can do to help pass on these lost souls that have been trapped here. This was the start of our journey, and we are looking forward to what is yet to come.