The Turtle Flambeau Flowage began in 1926, when the Chippewa and Flambeau Improvement Company built a dam on the Flambeau River downstream from its confluence with the Turtle River, improving the river’s usefulness for power generation and papermaking downstream. After the dam’s construction, the water rose gradually for several years until settling into roughly its current footprint in the early 1930s. Most of the land surrounding the Flowage was owned by the Improvement Company until 1991, when the State of Wisconsin purchased it. Until 1931, there were no roads between Mercer and this side of the Flowage, making business nearly impossible for the resorts, and those that had been on lakes before the flowage was created were drowned out of existence. Despite these hardships, local people continued to live and work in the area. Many worked for the Roddis Logging Company, which cut hardwood north and west of the Flowage and used an extensive railroad system to transport timber out of the forest until 1938. Many residents also gained experience fishing in the Flowage, which had a spawning ground near the dam, and some used that experience to work as guides and resort proprietors, creating new business opportunities.