Like a number of settlements in the great timber country of the North, it was some time before Merrill acquired its name. In the early 1840's, as the Timber Country was open to meet the needs of the tree barren prairie states and a growing nation, the present site of Merrill was known as Jenny Bull Falls. It lay at the heart of a vast forest land known best to the Chippewa Indians, who camped at Big Eddy and pow-wowed at Council Grounds.

By 1843, a trading post was built about a mile and a half south. John Faely had constructed the first home shortly before. Four years later, Andrew Warren began construction of a dam across the Wisconsin River at the foot of Mill Street. Warren also built the first of what was to be a number of saw mills in Jenny Bull Falls, and later Merrill. The mill was powered by the dam, which was nine feet high and nearly 500 feet wide. In 1870, T.B. Scott succeeded Warren in ownership of the mill. By 1880, the mill had an annual capacity of 10 million board feet, plus 2 million shingles. Fifteen years later, the mill was producing 25 million feet of lumber and 20 million shingles. In 1899, this highly productive mill burned to the ground. In the meantime, Jenny Bull Falls legally changed to Merrill in honor of the general manager of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad, Mr. S.S. Merrill. This railroad and passenger depot, a hub of social activity through the boom lumbering years and after, had become a community youth center, but has since been razed.

A number of significant events took place during the 1880's and 1890's. Coinciding with the adoption of the name Merrill in 1881, the Wisconsin Telephone company began operation with 20 phones in service. By 1885, the population had reached 7,000 people, only three thousand less than live in Merrill today. Two years before, in 1883, the first City Council met and T.B. Scott was named the lumber city's first mayor.

Electric street cars were placed in operation in 1890, one of the first such installations in the world. Further evidence of the refinement of civilization was seen a year later when T.B. Scott Library opened. Eighteen ninty-one was the arrival of the famed Hans V. Kaltenborn. Only a lad of thirteen, Kaltenborn grew to maturity here with his family and then went on to become the dean of American news commentators. Eighteen ninty-two marked the peak of the lumbering boom. That year, with 8 mills in operation, a staggering 150,000,000 board feet of lumber was produced along with 86 million shingles. From this point, the impact of lumbering began to taper off primarily due to the decline in the great pine forests. The lumbering men began to concentrate on the hardwood forests...in 1889, nearly 20 mills in this area produced hardwood lumber. Merrill's present recognition as a principal millwork center seems only natural in the light of the lumbering background of the community.

The turn of the century marked a milestone for Merrill. Faced with a diminishing timber supply, the people who built the city faced a decision — move on to greater timber resources or stay and diversify their industry. Their decision to stay underscores one of the great strengths of Merrill today...a diversity of industry that provides a stable economic base and avoids those problems inherent in a city of one or few industries.