The town was incorporated in 1899 as a company town for the employees of the Spanish River Pulp and Paper company, which opened a paper mill there. In 1929 the mill was closed, and the town struggled until the Second World War, when the mill site became a camp for German prisoners of war.
In 1943, the paper mill was reopened by another company, and has operated ever since. Now owned by Domtar, it continues to be one of the town's largest employers.