Lumber Mills in Midland My ship is down at the bottom of Georgian Bay and I'm stuck on one of the 30, 000 islands. Here is some of what I lost, these photo's by J.W Bald demonstrate what the mills looked like during the turn of the century. So enjoy and if possible, try and answer the questions and get me off this island.

Have fun, learn lots and help me get off the island!!!

Lumber Mills in Midland




The railroad was a key factor in the rise of the lumber industry in Midland. When it came in 1879 it brought with it prosperity and wealth. Here we see how the railroad passes right by the mill, this was convenient because it could pick up all the cut lumber and transport it to the big cities and Chicago, Detroit, Toronto and Montreal.
1991-0001-0030 or PA 177733



Here we can see the log booms in the foreground and a schooner in the background, the schooner is picking up a shipment of square logs, destined for England. The squared logs were used by the British to built the masts for schooner's, like this one.

1991-0001-0036 or PA 178807



This one person spring operated bucksaw was patented in 1910 to facilitate the job of cutting big logs. Cutting the logs was the slowest part of lumbering. This bucksaw was replaced by electric ones, later on.
1991-0001-0044 or PA 177784



Chew's Saw Mill in Midland looked more like a barn than a mill, but during the cutting season the mill was a bustle of activity and close to a quarter of the town worked there.

    What was the key factor in rise of the milling industry in Midland?
    a) railway
    b) Joe Boo came to town
    c) Canada's independence

Cool Links

Lumber Camps
Playfair-White Era
Railroad in Midland
Then and Now

Links Around the World

Lumber Industry in Hearst. Overview of the lumber industry in the town of Hearst.
Mackenzie's John Dahl Article on logging.

Further Reading and Bibliography


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Good quality copies of J.W. Bald's photo can be obtained from the Huronia Museum c/o Bill Smith 1-705-526-2844 or through the National Archives of Canada, just refer to the archive number at the bottom of each picture.

Huronia Museum, Little Lake Park, P.O. Box 638, Midland, Ontario, Canada, L4R 4P4.

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