W.H.C. Folsom

Who is W.H.C. Folsom?

William Henry Carman Folsom is best known as a lumber baron of the St. Croix River Valley. He left his home and family in Maine at age 15, working his way westward as a farm laborer, logger and lumber camp cook, and dam builder. He became involved in the lumber business in what would become the Minnesota Territory and began investing in land in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He settled permanently at Taylors Falls, Minnesota, where he later invested in other enterprises such as a hotel, a lumber mill and the first bridge to span the St. Croix River. He served as a state representative and served six terms as a state senator. Folsom was an active historian and writer, publishing several articles and a book, Fifty Years in the Northwest, which was published by the St. Paul Pioneer Press Company in 1888.

He died in 1900 at his home in Taylors Falls, which is still operated as a historic site by the historical society of Taylors Falls.