By the late 1800s, the Northwoods was one of the most valuable timber producing regions in the country. In 1895, a record breaking timber boom hit Rhinelander, bringing hundreds of lumberjacks, sawmill workers, and log drivers to the town. Logging camps ran around the clock, and massive log rafts floated downriver to sawmills waiting to process them. The boom didn't last forever, and by the early 1900s, the vast forests were thinning. However, the legacy of those years still stands in the buildings, rail lines, and riverways that shaped Rhinelander.