Cedar Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 19, 2011 stream in southeastern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Cedar Creek watershed is a 330 km² (127mi²) sub-basin of the larger

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the c ...

watershed. It originates from

Big Cedar Lake Big Cedar Lake, a lake located in Washington County, Wisconsin, about a mile west of Little Cedar Lake, is the biggest lake of 52 in Washington County. It has 10.2 miles of shoreline and measures over 900 acres. It is managed by the Big Cedar La ...

in the town of West Bend, then flows east into Little Cedar Lake. Cedar Creek then flows eastward through Jackson Wisconsin toward

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

before turning south. Flowing southward the creek crosses State Highway 60 where there is a USGS

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

and briefly flows through Grafton Wisconsin before entering Cedarburg Wisconsin on its north side. Cedar Creek flows through downtown Cedarburg, and empties into the

southeast of Cedarburg in the Town of Grafton. The lower section through Cedarburg is notable for its the steep slope, and early settlers made use of this by building several mills and accompanying dams. The lower portion of the creek through downtown Cedarburg until its confluence with the Milwaukee River is adversely impacted by the milldams and

PCB PCB may refer to: Science and technology * Polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic chlorine compound, now recognized as an environmental toxin and classified as a persistent organic pollutant * Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics * ...

pollution produced by

Mercury Marine Mercury Marine is a marine engine division of Brunswick Corporation headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The main product line is outboard motors. It also produces the MerCruiser line of sterndrives and inboard motors. Some manufacturing ...

and Amcast automotive. Numerous cleanups have occurred, the most recent cleanup from the ruck pond to the wire and nail dam was completed in 2018, with cleanup from the wire and nail dam to the Milwaukee River set to take place in the 2020s.

Mills

Several mills and accompanying dams were built on the lower portion of Cedar Creek in the mid and late 19th century. The mills proved successful and had large impacts on the local economy. By the early 20th century many of the mills had moved away from hydropower to more reliable steam or electric power. Financial trouble for the mills began during the

great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and continued into later decades as larger mills and factories outcompeted the small mills. By the late 1960s all the mills had either ceased milling operations or shut down entirely. Today some of the mills have found other uses hosting stores, restaurants, offices, and a brewpub, while others remain unused or have been demolished.

Flooding

Cedar Creek is normally a small low discharge stream, however like many streams it experiences regular flooding. In 1881 a sudden spring melt caused severe flooding that washed out all the milldams on Cedar Creek except the one at the

Cedarburg Mill The Cedarburg Mill is a former gristmill in Cedarburg, Wisconsin that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Located the on Cedar Creek, the building was constructed in 1855 by Frederick Hilgen and William Schroeder to repl ...

. The flood also washed away at least one bridge. Large floods occurred in 1952, 1959, 1960, and 1975. In 1996 flooding washed out the dam at the Concordia Mill, its millpond contained PCBs, and the washout complicated the cleanup by sending PCBs downstream.

Parks

Bridges

Notes

Rivers of Wisconsin Rivers of Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Rivers of Washington County, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-river-stub Superfund sites in Wisconsin