The Rich Lumber Company purchased 16,000 acres in 1902, and established the mill town of Wanakena, with buildings brought in by rail from its logging camp in Pennsylvania. Using its logging railroad to harvest timber, Rich Lumber depleted all the marketable wood on their acreage in ten years, and closed the mill. The town remains, and is well preserved. It is one of two major milltowns on Cranberry Lake, which was formed by flooding the Oswegatchie River.