Built in 1864, the mill was one of many wool- and flax-processing factories that opened during the American Civil War, due to a shortage of cotton textiles formerly supplied by southern states.

In 1864, Frederick Hilgen, Dietrich Wittenberg, and Joseph Trottman planned to capitalize on the textile shortage by building a hydropowered factory to process wool.

Completed in 1865 at a cost of $30,000, the mill complex initially consisted of two limestone buildings outfitted with state of the art equipment coupled to turbines powered by Cedar Creek.

[1] While completed too late to capitalize on the Civil War the mill found success filling demand for fabric and yarn in the wake of the destruction of industry and infrastructure in many southern states.

The owners constructed additional buildings, including offices, a shipping department, a coachhouse, bleaching and dying facilities, warehouses on both sides of the creek, and a factory store.

Construction of a new dam, designed by local engineer Charles Whitney, began in 1938 and was completed in 1939 as a Public Works Administration project for the City of Cedarburg.