[Dick B]

In a recent post to the Stevens Pass historical thread, Schroder mentioned 2 old sawmill towns that once existed along the Stevens Pass Highway. I thought it might be interesting to get some feedback about other towns that have met a similar fate over the years. I will mention a few that I know of down here in Oregon. Valsetz was a fairly large sawmill town located in the coast range west Salem. The mill closed and was removed, along with the town, in 1984. The town had a population of about 300 and averaged nearly 130 inches of rain a year. Kinzua was another sawmill town outside of Fossil Oregon. It once had 125 homes and the mill operated until 1978. All that remains today is a 6 hole golf course that was built in a pasture by the residents. The town of Bates was located on the upper reaches of the Middle Fork of the John Day River. The town at one time had up to 400 residents and closed in 1975. Houses were sold to residents for a dollar apiece. Some were moved and some were salvaged for materials. I'm not familiar what Washingtons lumbering history has been. I visited friends in Grisdale back in the '50s. It was a logging town with a reload and was located west of Shelton. As far as I know, nothing remains of any of these sites. Many sawmills have closed over the years, but the towns where they were located still remain.

[JonnyQuest]

[Schroder]

I think every western Washington town was a sawmill town. Among those that disappeared the first one that comes to mind is Lester.

[Pyrites]

Yeah, you used to smell the beehive burners before you got to a town.

[Schroder]

A friend of mine wrote a novel based on logging towns in the Skykomish Valley around 1937 & the conflicts with the unions. I enjoyed it and I think it paints a pretty accurate picture of life in the woods back then. https://a.co/d/5ghrP9A

[Jake]

I don't know where you separate logging towns from logging camps. Some of those camps were quite big and lasted for some years. There was one on the east side of Kellogg Lake below the Sultan Basin.

[Dick B]

[mike]

Camp dump during construction at Grand Coulee Dam

[mike]

English Lumber Co later Puget Sound Pulp & Timber which was in turn bought by Georgia Pacific. I worked for GP to pay for college and had access to all of the old data. EL had a series of numbered camps starting around Stanwood. see Kinsey for photos. I think my Dad worked in one as a kid. Up near Finn Settlement. Don't remember what #.

[Schroder]

Here are some sawills that were on Highway 2 between Monroe and Stevens Pass: Monroe The Wagner and Wilson mill was just north of town on Wagner Lake and operated from 1900 to 1936. At it's peak it cut 65,000 board feet per day and employed 125.

Wagner and Wilson mill ca. 1900; photographer unknown

Location of Wagner & Wilson mill

Startup The Wallace Lumber mill was at the east end of town on the northeast corner of the intersection with Kellogg Lake Road. I believe it held the record in Washington for cutting the largest diameter log. The mill was still standing up to the 1970's.

Wallace Lumber 1911; Lee Pickett

Wallace Lumber 1911; Lee Pickett

Wallace Lumber 1925; Lee Pickett

Wallace Lumber 1925; Lee Pickett

Location of Wallace Lumber

Gold Bar The Gold Bar Lumber Company mill was near the fish hatchery at the west end of town and was pretty large, employing about 300. I can't find any information on when it shut down.

Gold Bar Lumber 1910; Lee Pickett

Gold Bar Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Location of Gold Bar Lumber

Index Index-Galena Mill was on the south side of the bridge into town where the trailhead for Heybrook Ridge is now. This was a sizable mill that operated from about 1910 to its shutdown in 1929. A lot of remnants are still at the site.

Index-Galena Lumber 1910; Lee Pickett

Index-Galena Lumber 1910; Lee Pickett

Index-Galena Lumber 1910; Lee Pickett

Index-Galena Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Index-Galena Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Index-Galena Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Index-Galena Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Index-Galena Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Location of Index-Galena Lumber

Heybrook The Heybrook Mill was a couple of miles up the highway from Index - where the coffee stand is now. It operated from 1903 to about 1927 and cut over 60,000 board feet a day. The "Heybrook Village" had a population over 250 in 1916.

Heybrook Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Heybrook Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Heybrook Lumber 1912; Lee Pickett

Heybrook Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Heybrook Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Location of Heybrook Lumber

Baring There was a shingle mill in Baring but I can't find it's exact location.

Baring shingle mill 1912; Lee Pickett

Baring shingle mill 1912; Lee Pickett

Grotto There was a sawmill in Grotto, perhaps where the cement plant was later built

Grotto sawmill 1911; Lee Pickett

Skykomish The Bloedel-Donovan mill was about a mile west of Skykomish on the old highway toward Miller River where there's a small community today known as Milltown. It operated from 1910 until 1958. A friend of mine owned the millsite since it shut down and just sold it a couple of weeks ago.

Bloedel Donovan Mill 1923; Lee Pickett

Bloedel Donovan Mill 1913; Lee Pickett

Location of Bloedel Donovan mill

Alpine The town of Alpine (or Nippon earlier) was on the hillside along the railroad tracks just south of Alpine Falls. The mill operated from 1910 to 1928. HistoryLink has a very interesting article on its President, Carl Lane Clemens.

Nippon Lumber 1912; Lee Pickett

Nippon Lumber 1912; Lee Pickett

Nippon Lumber 1913; Lee Pickett

Alpine 1918 ; Lee Pickett

Alpine 1925 ; Lee Pickett

Alpine 1925 ; Lee Pickett

Alpine 1925 ; Skykomish Historical Society

Location of Alpine mill

There were many other small sawmills along the Skykomish River but I think I've covered the major ones. Most of them shut down during the crash of the 20's and only the Skykomish mill was restarted.

[Ski]

Frances and Lebam were both "mill towns" - now hardly wide spots in the road. They milled cedar shingles from what is now the Capitol State Forest. My late step-father worked at Grisdale.

[Schroder]

I've added some more photos and maps to my post above.

[Dick B]

[Schroder]

There was a town called National, just west of Ashford on the Nisqually River, that had the Pacific National Lumber Company mill from 1905 to 1942. Clark Kinsey (Darius' brother) took quite a few photos of it. In the collection at the University of Washington it describes the town: "A post office was established December 3, 1910. The sawmill and a large part of the town burned May 13, 1912, but was rebuilt. In 1940, a writer for the WPA described National as a town of small, red, boxlike cottages crowded onto crooked, planked streets and dominated by the large red sawmill."

Location of Pacific National Lumber

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Pacific National Lumber; Clark Kinsey

Nearby in Mineral, there was another sawmill that went through a few owners - L.T. Murray started Mineral Lake Lumber Company in 1910, West Fork Logging Companybought it in 1927 and then St Regis Paper Company in 1943. It all burned in 1964.

Location of Mineral mill

West Fork Timber ; Clark Kinsey

West Fork Timber ; Clark Kinsey

West Fork Timber ; Clark Kinsey

There are some great photos and a description of Mineral's history on the Mineral Lake Lodge website.

[Schroder]