It's a sight you can't help but see as you drive in or around Cornell, but it's also a sight that can be deceiving because most people don't know just what it is. But, that's not surprising, since it's the only one still standing in the world.

In today's Wandering Wisconsin, we have the history behind the Cornell stacker.

Judy Talbot, former mayor:
The Cornell stacker is a pulpwood stacker. It was manufactured in England and brought here in 1911 and 1912. It's a conveyor belt system that's used to stack logs into giant piles. It was used to save manpower at the time when there were not a lot of workers interested in doing the job.

The logs would come in on the river or the railroad in 81 inch sections. They were cut in a sawmill under the stacker and then went up the stacker and into piles and then on to the paper mill and into products.

The stacker is 178 feet tall and at times the piles were as tall as it. In winter sometimes the conveyor would freeze and the men would be able to stand on top of the pile to fix it. If you talk to any man here over the age of 50, at one time they worked on the stacker or for the mill. All year long, someone was always at the top--spring, summer, fall and winter.

In 1971 it became obsolete and stopped running. In 1989, the buildings below it caught fire and were destroyed.

Now the mill buildings are used by Mule Hide Manufacturing. It's the largest company in the area and makes felt paper for roofing. It's know world-wide for that paper.

The stacker is the only one still standing in the world--that we know of. It's a landmark that you can see for miles and it's our legacy. It'll be 100 years old in 2012 and it's a big piece of pride for Cornell. We have it on our signs, our T-shirts. We're known as "Stacker City."

I want people to know it's not a crane; it's a conveyor system. It's a piece of history. How many kids can say 'I know what a stacker is?' People always come to town and to the visitor's center here and ask 'what's that thing?' I want people to understand it's a piece of the wood process and the wood making history in the state of Wisconsin.

If you want to help save the stacker, there's a fund set up at the Northwestern Bank in Cornell.

There's also a raffle for this watercolor print called "The Stacker." It was painted by Cornell artist Sharon Shepard. Judy says it's valued at $1200 and the winner will be announced after the Cornell Christmas parade December 2008. Tickets are available for a dollar a piece at the Cornell visitor's center right beneath the stacker.