Courtney Woolen Mill final run. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A long-standing business that stamped itself into Appleton’s history is beginning to say goodbye.
Earlier this year, Courtney Woolen Mill announced plans to close. Monday was the final run at the mill before it closes its doors officially later this month.
For Tom Courtney, watching the belts turn inside the mill one last time feels bittersweet.
“One of the big things that I was thinking of when it was last run was it’s being preserved, that’s just huge to me,” said Courtney, the 4th-generation owner of the woolen mill.
The woolen mill has been owned by the Courtney family for 120 years.
The carding machine will now go into the hands of the Appleton Historical Society.
“I think that when people see that and understand how these things come together, it’s gonna be a great story to tell,” said Tom Miller with the Appleton Historical Society.
Beginning next week, the carding machine will be taken apart and brought to the Appleton Historical Society’s new museum, where it will be put back together and be on display.
“It won’t be running at full speed but it will be a functioning machine,” said Miller. “It’ll be on display and people will actually see the process on how the bats are made.”
The woolen mill, which has produced batting for quilts since being built in 1880, is designated as a state and national historical site.
Courtney says the property has been sold, but is unable to share details of who bought the property.
The state’s Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society says that the property’s historical listing doesn’t restrict what the private property owners do with the land.
If the new owner plans on demolishing the property — the municipality must hold the permit and notify the preservation office.
Courtney says more information about the sale of his business will be coming out in about two weeks.
As for what he will miss the most — it’s his customers.
“I mean talking to them it’s, at 52 years it didn’t even seem like coming to work,” said Courtney.
The Appleton Historical Society is hoping the woolen mill exhibit will be fully on display in early fall.
Courtney Woolen Mill will officially close in about two weeks.
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