One of the largest shippers on the Ahnapee & Western.

Algoma Hardwoods was started as the Ahnapee Seating & Veneer Company in 1892, the same year that the Ahnapee & Western RR laid rails into Algoma (Ahnapee at the time).

The company was one of the largest shippers on the Ahnapee & Western, and after the northern portion of the railroad was abandoned in 1968 it was the only major shipper on the line. Still, the company generated enough traffic to allow the AHW to remain in business. Shipments were mainly boxcars of finished paneling, plywood, and wood doors. Before the mid-1950s, logs came into the plant via rail. After around 1954, US Plywood began to receive veneer flitches from plants in the Canada, the southeast, and Africa.

This image shows the main part of the plant as it appeared between 1945 and 1959. The main warehouse is at the bottom of the photo along with the shipping and receiving rail docks (on both sides of the building). The power plant (built 1944/45) is top center with the three tall stacks. The A&W line into Algoma is on the left parallel to Perry Street and Silver Creek is at the top of the photo. Note the large wood yard on the right of the image, full of logs awaiting peeling and pressing into 'Weldwood Plywood'.

For more history of Algoma Hardwoods, check out this link: http://www.algomahardwoods.com/Pages/General.html 

This photo post card is titled "Algoma Wis M1026"

Postcard, dated September 1, 1949.