Our First Sawmill

Our First Sawmill. . , Settlers from Albert Lea, Minnesota, established Gig Harbor's first sawmill, the Gig Harbor Lumber Company, near this spot on the waterfront in 1887. The sawmill cut as much as 100,000 board feet of lumber daily. Its 450-foot wharf could accommodate the boats, sometimes 15 sailing vessels and steamers at a time, that came to the harbor for lumber. Mill workers lived in rows of shanties up what is now Rosedale Street., The mill owners also engaged in boat building in a shipyard they created next to the mill. In 1888, they launched the steamer Albert Lea and in 1890, the schooner Vine., The early 1890s were hard times and the mill struggled. It was sold under foreclosure in 1891. It changed hands several more times before being purchased in 1899 and moved to Clear Lake along the Skagit River. The mill operated there for several years before burning down., This was not the end of the industry in Gig Harbor. Other mills would appear and logging would continue into the 1950s., [Photo captions, top and bottom, read] , . Shacktown for Gig Harbor sawmill workers, 1887, . Launching the schooner Vine, on the right, at Gig Harbor sawmill. The other tall ships are loading lumber, 1890