During the War of 1812, Great Britain's embargo on the States caused paper to become scarce. This scarcity inspired Moody Butler to build a paper mill in 1819, below the Great Falls of the Contoocook River. There he began making paper by hand from linen rags and locally grown flax. In 1832, Butler's descendant, John W. Flagg, erected new mill buildings and installed the latest papermaking machinery for the production of writing paper and blank book paper.
In 1904, Colonel Arthur J. Pierce acquired the mill and began construction of the brick portion of the mill, which still houses the stock preparation systems and two fourdrinier machines. Throughout the first half of this century, A. J. Pierce continued production of an expanded range of bond and ledger papers augmenting the writing and book paper lines with the introduction of mimeo and duplicator stocks.
Monadnock Paper Mills was sold to Gilbert Verney in 1948. From that time onward Monadnock began the process of product specialization. By the early 1960's the product mix had evolved from bond, book, and offset papers to opaques and premium text and cover papers. In the latter part of the decade, development and production of technical/specialty papers began when sterilizable medical papers, high strength book covering, and filter papers were introduced.
Production has grown dramatically by cultivating new markets and customers as well as investing in new facilities and equipment. Throughout its history, Monadnock has been privately owned by only three families. Today's owners recognize and appreciate the contributions of past and present generations of paper makers who established and continue Monadnock's tradition of excellence in papermaking. Monadnock is the oldest continually operating paper mill in the United States.

• Ink jet paper
• Laser printer paper