In 1872, John Edwards Jr. became the sole owner of the Edwards and Clinton sawmill in Port Edwards, along with several other business ventures including a general store, post office, boarding house, farming interests, and land speculations. To administer these enterprises, he built an office building on the riverbank at the south end of the village and crowned it with an escutcheon on the peak of the roof. John Edwards and Company later shifted from lumber production to manufacturing pulp and paper in 1895, becoming the John Edwards Manufacturing Company. In 1908, after the merger of three paper mills in the area, the building was expanded and became the corporate headquarters of Nekoosa Edwards Paper company, serving in that role until 1961, when a new building was erected and the old office building was demolished. The escutcheon was preserved, hung in the hall of the new office, and moved in 2010 to this site, where it remains a symbol of pride.