The papers of North Western Lumber Company are divided into seven series: Correspondence; Land Sale Records; Legal Records; Financial Records; Records of the Stanley, Merrill, and Phillips Railway; Maps; and Miscellaneous Records.

The CORRESPONDENCE series dates from November 1896 to April 1955, although only a few letters written prior to the cessation of lumbering operations in 1920 have survived. Most of the correspondence is for the period 1930-1940. The letters are arranged chronologically.

Most of the letters after 1920 were written by George H. Hipke, an officer of the company. They are routine business letters or are related to his political campaigns. Hipke, a resident of Stanley, Wisconsin, was elected to the legislature in 1934 and 1936. In processing this collection several hundred of Hipke's campaign letters were discarded as repetitious, and about ten percent saved as examples. Those discarded were letters to friends and constituents, announcing his candidacy or thanking them for signing his nomination papers. A letter from Hipke to the stockholders of Northwestern Lumber Company, January 11, 1937, recommended the liquidation of the company's assets. By 1944 the assets had been so reduced that Hipke suggested in a letter of June 8, that all stock should be sold to the company president, C.D. Moon, for $2.60 a share. One letter book in the series, October 22, 1919-August 30, 1928, contains company correspondence primarily by Theodore Hoidahl, a cashier for the company. Many of these letters related to land sales.

The LAND SALES RECORDS, 1888-1955, form the largest series in the collection and include land sale volumes; deed books; deferred land sales; land sales paid and canceled; land inventory records; plat books; and land options. Similar information found in many of these headings includes land sale number, name and address of purchaser, legal description of the property (section, township and range), purchase price and credit arrangements, stipulations or reservations in the contract, date of final payment, and correspondence relevant to the land sales. Two volumes of plat books furnish a graphic inventory of the company's land and timber holdings, with many annotations and distinctive markings to show ownership, date of transfer, manner of acquisition, and quantity of various types of timber. The land sales paid and cancelled are case files of papers relating to a single land transaction. Land Sales Records are arranged numerically, by land sale number, except for the land options, which are arranged chronologically, and the land inventory records, which are arranged by county, town, and range.

LEGAL RECORDS, 1896-1953, consist of contracts; mortgages; and satisfactions of mortgages. Contracts in the collection include timber sales, building sales, and sand and gravel sales. There also are leases, easements, and miscellaneous contracts. The mortgages and satisfaction of mortgages concern property held by the North Western Lumber Company.

FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1896-1955, document the firm's changing business activities during these years. The Special Ledgers record the stock and capital invested in other corporations and companies by North Western Lumber Company. The other journals and ledgers record cash receipts, vouchers payable, profit and loss, expenditures, accounts with individuals and companies, and other routine business entries. Cashbooks record receipts and disbursements of the company. Closing papers include state and federal income tax returns and a great variety of financial papers associated with the annual financial accounting. Some correspondence between the Treasury Department and North Western Lumber is among these records. A 1909 appraisal of the North Western Lumber Company's installations at Stanley gives a detailed survey of the company's plant and equipment. Land expense distribution records show the distribution of expenses in connection with company's land holding and office expenses. The volume which include rent rolls, contains names of tenants of company property, identification of the property, rent rates and tenant privileges. Notes held by the company are recorded in the collection register. The tax record lists parcels of land owned by the North Western Lumber and the taxes paid, while the tax certificate register lists land obtained by the company through redeeming tax certificates for unpaid taxes.

The RECORDS OF THE STANLEY, MERRILL, AND PHILLIPS RAILWAY COMPANY span the years 1893-1939. These records are arranged into corporate records; general records; and maps. The corporate records include organization papers, 1893-1902; a minute book, 1902-1937, recording board of directors meetings and annual stockholders' meetings; and the certificate of dissolution of the corporation dated February 15, 1937. Many of the regular minutes deal with leasing land, dissolution of the corporation, and routine business matters. The railroad patent is found in the organization papers. General Records encompass a wide variety of information including annual reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission, 1917-1926,; annual reports to the Railroad Commission, 1915, 1916, August 1924, and December 1924; annual report to the Wisconsin State Tax Commission, 1924; balance sheets and closing papers; deeds; inventories; land sales; leases; miscellaneous contracts; and miscellaneous records. Both corporate and general records are arranged by type and chronologically thereunder. There are 23 maps in the papers of the railway company. These depict sections of railroad right of way, often sections between small towns in the area. The MAPS series of the lumber company papers includes forty-two maps divided into six headings: maps of Stanley; maps of Eau Claire; maps of Altoona, Jump River and Seymour; road maps; blueprints of company buildings; and miscellaneous maps. The individual maps are numbered and an attached sheet describes each of them.

MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS span the years 1895-1937. This series contains some records pertaining to Del Norte Company and Northwestern Mercantile Company. North Western Lumber Company owned stocks in both companies. U.S. Treasury questionnaires are also included. Articles of Incorporation of the Northwestern Mercantile Company, August 22, 1919, and of its dissolution, April 27, 1932, are included in the collection. The Mercantile Company was partially owned by North Western Lumber and was located in Stanley. It carried on a general mercantile business.