A steam locomotive marked with a large “C” sits on mill tracks on Beaver Island as workers pose near stacks of sawn lumber and a long mill building with tall smokestacks. In the background, ship masts hint at how much of this business moved by water.
This scene lines up with Beaver Island’s big early-1900s lumber push, when the Beaver Island Lumber Company built a large mill near St. James Harbor and ran its own railroad to haul logs in from the woods. The company’s main run is typically placed in the 1903–1915 range, so “c. 1900” may be a little early for this specific view.
What have you heard about Beaver Island’s logging railroad or sawmill days?
#BeaverIsland #LakeMichigan #StJamesMichigan #MichiganHistory #LoggingHistory
