The Bug Line Railroad, formally the Milwaukee, Menomonee Falls and Western Railroad, was built in 1890 and extended to Merton and North Lake after 1891 before being discontinued in 1978. On this site stood the Sussex Elevator from 1890 to 1917 under Wm. and John Small, the Sussex Cooperative from 1919 to 1934, Nettesheim and Otto Inc. from 1934 to 1945, and Sussex Mills from 1945 to 1990 under Hip Keller and Gordon Pfeil. The mill shipped and received grain, ground, cleaned, and mixed grains, and also operated a coal yard and salt warehouse. The mill closed in 1972, and the business became a lawn and garden operation in 1964, selling power equipment until it closed on October 27, 1990.