Frank Ranke, a local entrepreneur, erected a Cider Mill/Jelly Factory in 1889 at today's Frankenmuth Woolen Mill site. Lean profits from the seasonal operation turned Ranke's thoughts to building a wool processing mill at the rear of the Cider Mill. For the next 54 years, local farmers would bring in their sour apples and grapes to be made into cider as well as wool to be processed into the necessary items families needed to make it through Michigan's harsh winters.