Champion, Great Bend, and Deferiet were all founded in the 1800s. Farming has always been the lifeblood of Champion; Noadiah Hubbard--original settler, land agent, merchant, and builder--did much to encourage its settlement and growth. Great Bend's location on the Black River drew various mills looking to utilize inexpensive waterpower. Such corporations included the Sherman Paper Company and the Great Bend Paper Company, which was incorporated in September 1868 to manufacture straw wrapping papers and strawboard. F.W. Woolworth, of five-and-dime fame, endowed a church here in honor of his...

Early settlers followed the Black River up to Long Falls, the present site of Carthage and West Carthage, where they found fertile land and dense forests along the rushing waters. The river ran between the two villages and gave life to the young communities. Many industries, dependent on the waterpower, were established along the lower eastern bank, with businessmen settling on the highlands of the west bank. Mills sprang up where blinds, lumber, and furniture were manufactured, and planning mills, tanneries, and pulp mills flourished. After a devastating fire, which destroyed mills on both...