Business records for the flour and gristmills and the electric power plants operated on the Willow River by Christian Burkhardt (1834-1931) and his family of Burkhardt and Hudson, Wisconsin. Burkhardt, a native of Germany, built his first dam and flour mill on the Willow River in 1868. By 1894 a new mill had been erected and electric generators had been installed, and by 1900 electrical power was being supplied to the city of Hudson for street lighting and residential use. In 1907 all company operations were consolidated into the Burkhardt Milling and Electric Power Company, but because of its continued growth and diversification, the power business was separated from the milling business by the creation in 1922 of the Willow River Power Company. In 1944 all of the Burkhardt properties were purchased by Northern States Power Company.
The bulk of the collection is composed of financial and legal records. Minutes of meetings of the Burkhardt Milling and Electric Company, 1907-1947, together with cash and sales books, journals, ledgers, trial balances, and grain and shipping accounts of varied dates relate primarily to the operations of the flour and grain mills, mainly in the period after 1885. Sales records, 1901-1918, minutes of stockholders' and directors' meetings of the Willow River Power Company, 1922-1940, a few reports to state and federal agencies, and assorted legal papers relate to the production and sale of electricity. The collection also contains plat maps and correspondence concerning lands owned by the Burkhardt companies, 1900-1946, correspondence and financial records of investments held by the Burkhardts in St. Paul, Minn., 1904-1943, and a very few folders of personal family papers, 1873-1953.
Subjects included: agreements, common stock certificates, dividends, ledger, liquidation, meetings and materials, minutes, stock book
Subjects included: liquidation - federal information returns, meetings
Loose volume 16
Subjects included: additions to plant, Bessemer Gas Engine Company correspondence, building repairs, photographs, real estate holdings, rural electric service application, electric light and power stations
Photographs, real estate holdings, water level specifications, water powers owned by Christian Burkhardt
Includes subjects: meters owned at Baldwin, daily station report, deeds, census of manufacturers
Subjects included: contracts, pay scale, seniority, correspondence, life insurance plans, salary increases, social security data
Northern States Power Company in-house publication
Loose volume 11
Loose volumes 18, 15, 17, 16
Midland cooperative wholesale in-house publication
Subjects included: miscellaneous, Willow River Power Company vs. United States government, correspondence, support materials
Subjects included: sale to Northern States Power Company, support materials
Subjects included: Afton Power Company, indices to document files, loan from city of Hudson
Agreements and contracts, lease to Midland Co-operative Wholesale
Loose volume 3
Loose volume 5, 6, 7, 8
Loose volumes 1, 2, 4
Subjects included: earnings reports, electrical line location and account book, report to Federal Reserve Bank, income and balance sheets, journal voucher, unbilled kilowatt hours
Subjects included: monthly statements, petitions to railroad commission, stock issuance, capital stock tax, returns and correspondence, federal income tax, privilege dividend state tax, real estate tax statement, state income tax, treasurer's reports
Subjects included: schedule of accounts, audit report, earnings reports, expenses, net income
Includes subjects: electricity sales records, federal reserve bank reports, financial statements, fiscal statements, balance sheets, grain and shipping records, income accounts, internal revenue service, journal
Subjects include: Federal income tax, correspondence, real estate tax, state income tax, tax commission, tax receipts, war saving stamps records
Includes subjects: accountant's schedule and correspondence, schedule of accounts, accounts payable and receivable, bills and receipts, capital stock tax returns, electricity sales records, indexed sales records
Includes subject: milling operation account book, petitions to railroad commission of Wisconsin, real estate tax statement, rate increase hearing, shipping bills, tax, capital stock and correspondence, federal income tax
Subjects included: A.W. Kimball C.P.A., liquidation, miscellaneous, railroad commission of Wisconsin
Includes subjects: liquidation, Minnesota secretary of state, railroad commission of Wisconsin, real estate transactions, miscellaneous
Includes subjects: general, Ashley Lynn H. attorney, G.W. Bell, Chequamegon National Forest, Gogebic Steam Boiler Works, Spencer Haven attorney, Ackerman and Holland engineers, Hudson electric light, Emma Kessel (estate), A.W. Kimball accountant
Subjects included: organization, incorporation, stock issuance, agreements
Includes subjects: articles of organization and incorporation, correspondence, organizational materials