Wood Pulp Mill

In 1867, in the Curtisville area of Stockbridge, the first viable wood pulp was made in the United States using machines purchased from Germany. The Keller-Voelter grinding apparatus is pictured in the rendition of what the original may have looked like.

Frederick Wurtzbach (1837-1909) moved his family from Germany to Curtisville in 1866 to run this first-of-its-kind in the United States pulp mill. The Wurtzbach family became a prominent family in Stockbridge and throughout Berkshire county.

Stockbridge Library Art Collection 99.174