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GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION:
The R.B. Mclean Mill is located 12 km N.W. of Port Alberni, British Columbia in the Beaver Creek district. The sawmill is now situated in dense second growth forest below the Beaufort Range. The Port Alberni Inlet is a gentle,wide and very accessible fjord extending from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of Vancouver Island to Port Alberni. Most sawmill operations in the Port Alberni area were located right along the inlet where logs could be easily boomed. The sawmill was uniquely situated for operations of its kind in the area because of the inland Kitsucksis Creek location. The family run business transported logs to and from the site on a railway spur from the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway and relied on a mill pond for log-booming.
DATE OF CONSTRUCTION:
1926-27
ARCHITECT:
No architect. Most of the buildings were constructed by the family and other existing sawmill plans may have been used.
CONTRACTOR:
The R.B. Mclean Sawmill was originally constructed by the R.B. Mclean family. Building began a year after purchasing the land and acquiring timber rights for about 400 acres in the surrounding area in 1925. Robert Mclean owned a logging operation on the Lower mainland before he moved to Vancouver Island. (Chathan, Robert,Mclean Mill Historic Site, 1997 Archaeological Investigations and Impact Assessment, p.6)
OWNER OF THE BUILDING
PAST:
R.B. Mclean family.
PRESENT:
The City of Port Alberni. The site is being restored by The City of Port Alberni, Parks Canada and the British Columbia Provincial Government. Many individuals in the community have shown a keen interest in preserving the Mclean Mill National Historic Site, and these people have made invaluable contributions to the restoration project.
USE OF THE BUILDING
PAST:
Sawmill and Logging Operations, 1926-1965.
PRESENT:
McLean Mill National Historic Site.
In 1989 the resurrected R.B. Mclean Sawmill became an officially designated National Historic Site. The buildings were donated to the City of Port Alberni by the Mclean family in 1984. "To record, remember and acknowledge the historical importance of the B.C. Forest Industry." (Sawmill Heritage, Mclean National Mill Historic Site Volume 1, no. 4)
The resurrected R.B. Mclean exhibits a living, working sawmill, showcasing the logging and forestry industry in the province of British Columbia. |
