Its name was revived in 2011 when private equity firm Cate Street Capital acquired Great Northern's original Maine mills.

Mullen had observed the 110-foot (34 m) drop of the West Branch Penobscot River at Grand Falls in 1891 while surveying a route for the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad.

The company's innovations included a pulpwood grinding machine still known throughout the paper industry as Great Northern grinders.

[7] Beginning in the mid-20th century, Great Northern acquired and began construction on various smaller boats to use on inland rivers and lakes.

[8] In the 1910s Great Northern built the Ripogenus Dam and power plant on the West Branch of the Penobscot River.

Construction of a thermal power plant in 1958 raised the total generating capacity of the Millinocket mill complex to 200,000 horsepower (150,000 kW).

In 1971, the company completed construction of the 97-mile Golden Road in Maine that paralleled the West Branch of the Penobscot River from Quebec to its mill at Millinocket.

[3] In 2011 the Katahdin Paper Company LLC holdings in Maine were acquired by Cate Street Capital of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The purchase by Cate Street was seen as a positive alternative to the closing of the mill at a time when the region was experiencing 22% unemployment.

[10] Just one year later the mill was called upon to supply the paper needed to produce the popular trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey.

[15] An investigation done by the Maine Sunday Telegram uncovered that a majority of the $40 million investment in the Great Northern Paper mill was "returned the same day to investors."