Cornell Pulpwood Stacker, Industrial heritage site in Cornell, United States

The Cornell Pulpwood Stacker is a 175-foot (53-meter) tall steel structure with two trapezoidal trusses angling from a concrete base in Mill Yard Park. It still has its original conveyor system, metal trough, and maintenance walkways that demonstrate early industrial machinery design.

Designed by Joor Engineering Company of England, the stacker was built on-site in 1912 by the Minneapolis Tool and Machinery Company on the east bank of the Chippewa River. It replaced a labor-intensive method of piling cut logs at the Cornell Wood Products Mill. It became obsolete in 1971, replaced by more economical ways of moving logs; a fire about two decades later destroyed most of the stacker buildings.

This preserved structure shows how important timber processing was to Wisconsin's communities and their way of working. You can see how the machinery shaped daily operations at the mill and what workers dealt with every day.

The stacker stands in Millyard Park on the east bank of the Chippewa River, owned by the city of Cornell. The 175-foot structure rises at a 45-degree angle, and a catwalk runs along one side, built for maintenance crews rather than visitors. The city has been raising funds for rust removal and refinishing, so expect weathered steel.

The National Park Service, assessing the structure for historic status, concluded it is possibly the only remaining structure of its kind. A fire about two decades after the stacker stopped work in 1971 destroyed most of the stacker buildings, leaving the steel tower standing in Millyard Park.