The story
Founded by Hugh J. Chisholm in 1898.1
The company was incorporated January 31, 1898, upon the merger of 17 pulp and paper mills in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Its founders and first two presidents were William Augustus Russell, who died suddenly in January 1899, and Hugh J. Chisholm. Philip Tell Dodge, president of the Mergenthaler Linotype Company, served as its chairman for 11 years. The invention of the Linotype dramatically increased the size of newspapers and the need for newsprint. The newly formed company supplied 60 percent of all newsprint in the country.
Hudson River Mill
The Hudson River Mill in Corinth, New York, where the Sacandaga River joins the Hudson River, was a pioneer in the development of the modern paper industry in the late 19th century. The first wood-based newsprint paper mill in New York, it was built by Albrecht Pagenstecher in 1869.
In the early 20th century, the Hudson River Mill was one of the company's largest plants and served both as its principal office, and a place where paper workers helped shape the direction of the industry's early labor movement.
After World War II, Hudson River Mill workers developed the production of coated paper for the company. Shifting economic forces resulted in the mill's closure in November 2002. The historic mill was slated for partial demolition during 2011. The work including asbestos removal was completed by Northstar Group Services.
Given the nature of their products, paper plants are highly flammable. Therefore, International Paper Company frequently used asbestos insulation in its walls, floors, and roofs as a protective measure. Asbestos insulation was also used on pipes and boilers throughout International Paper plants. This material, intended to protect people, instead turned out to severely damage their health. The producers did not reveal that their asbestos products were dangerous, even though asbestos was known to cause illnesses as far back as the 1920s. Consequently, many former employees of International Paper have been diagnosed with mesothelioma following decades of service.
Mill workers' strike
The book Betrayal of Local 14: Paperworkers, Politics, and Permanent Replacements was written about the strike at the Androscoggin Mill. The book was written by Julius Gerson Getman, who was an attorney representing the striking paperworkers.
1986–2000
In 1980, the company sold its Canadian newsprint mills and associated land to Canadian Pacific. This company eventually became Avenor, and later was purchased by Bowater. Part of the sale included the Rocky Brook fishing lodge in New Brunswick, and IP retained limited access to the lodge. Eventually IP bought the lodge back from Bowater.
In 1986, the company acquired the Hammermill Paper Company, founded in 1898, which managed eleven papermills nationwide, and had its corporate offices based in Erie, PA; in 1988, the Masonite Corporation; and in 1989, the German paper company Zanders Feinpapiere AG and the French paper manufacturer Aussedat Rey. In 1996, it purchased Federal Paper Board. In 1999, the company purchased Union Camp Corporation, and in June 2000 Champion International. Additionally, it owned shares in the Chilean company Copec.
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2012
In 2012, International Paper acquired Temple-Inland in a deal valued at $4.5 billion. Temple-Inland then became a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper. At the time of sale, Temple-Inland's corrugated packaging operation consisted of seven mills and 59 converting facilities as well as the building products operation.
2020s
International Paper completed the acquisition of British packaging company DS Smith for $7.2 billion in January 2025.
In 2025, International Paper announced the sale of its global cellulose fibers business to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $1.5 billion.
Restructuring, 2005–2006
In 2005 and 2006, the company undertook a significant restructuring, selling over 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km2) of forestland in the U.S., along with its coated paper, kraft paper, wood products, and beverage packaging businesses, as well as subsidiaries Arizona Chemical and New Zealand-based Carter Holt Harvey. The coated paper business (four mills in Maine, Michigan and Minnesota) were sold to Apollo Management and now operate as Verso Paper. The kraft paper business (composed of a kraft paper mill in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina and a dunnage bag plant in Fordyce, Arkansas) was sold to Kapstone Paper and Packaging and operates as Kapstone Kraft Paper.
The beverage packaging business, now called Evergreen Packaging, was purchased by Carter Holt Harvey, following the purchase of CHH by Graeme Hart. The company sold its wood products division to West Fraser Timber, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. This included 13 sawmills, making West Fraser the second-largest producer of lumber in North America, after Weyerhaeuser Company.
From Wikipedia’s article on International Paper, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7