D. M. Bare moved with his wife to Spang's Mill in 1864 after having purchased the "Mill Seat Tract" with his father, a farmer from Sinking Valley in Blair County, north of Altoona. Attracted to the location because of the spring's dependable flow and superior water quality, Bare initially operated the gristmill and general store. He built the first paper mill in 1866 with two partners, John Eby and John Morrison, but a disastrous fire destroyed the wood-frame building just after its completion. The three men rebuilt on the site almost immediately, and by 1867 were in business again, establishing a trade in low-grade paper made from rag, gunny sacking and straw. Through the rest of the 19th century, the mill evolved from a maker of manila wrapping paper and newspaper to a manufacturer of fine bond by the late 1930s.