Lumber Mill

Lumber Mill. . , Early Jonesboro, known as Chandler's River, was one of the best timbered in the area of what is now the state of Maine. A heavy growth of old pine lined its banks for miles up and down the river. In 1764 an early pioneer, Judah Chandler, built the first sawmill on the north side of the Chandler River and cleared away some of the surrounding woods to provide open space and logs for his mill. The sawmill was built on the dam where additional sawmills were later erected., Remnants of those later mills and the dam itself are still visible today. From this time forward many mills were built along the river that manufactured a variety of materials from long lumber to laths, staves, shingles and box shook. In addition to these mills on the main river, there were "tide mills” on the east side of the river, some three miles below: a mill at Englishman's River and one on Beaver Brook in the Farnsworth district. In the 1800s products from Jonesboro mills were loaded on Jonesboro sailing vessels from as many as six wharves along the river.