Isaac Staples

Who was Isaac Staples?

Isaac Staples was a powerful lumber baron in the St. Croix River Valley during the logging boom of the late 19th century.

Aside from his massive holdings and operations in timber, sawmills and the St. Croix Boom Company, Staples was also the region's most successful farmer and an important banker.

Staples arrived in Stillwater, Minnesota, the heart of the timber-rich St. Croix River Valley, from Maine in 1853 as a representative of eastern investors, including Samuel F. Hersey.