5.6. SR 06-07-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1851 - 1864: Ard Godfrey and John Jameson flour mill 1864 -1868: George Albee flour mill (questionable) !86~ -1887: Mil.ll; and Houlton flour mill 1887 - 1902: Mills and Sons flour mill 1907 -1912: Elk. River Milling Company flour mill 1919 - 1932: Leslie Hill flour mill SAW AND PLANING MIlLS (2)First Sa1Vfl1ill The first sawmill in Elk River was built in 1852 by Ard Godfrey and John G. Jameson after they had built the dam and grist mill.8S The mill was powered by the Elk River and was located about 300 feet east of the Main Street bridge.86 It had one sash saw with a capacity of sawing 3,000 feet per day.87 As stated in the flour mills section, Godfrey and Jameson ran the mills together unti.l1855 when they divided their property. Jameson took the farm land east of the Elk River while Godfrey kept the mills and the land west of the river.88 In 1858 Godfrey sold the mill property to Richard Martin, who then sold the property to Edward Martin in 1863. The mills were purchased by James B. Mills in 1863 and by George Albee, Mill's brother-in-law, in 1865.89 When Albee died in 1866, his wife Susan became the owner of both the flour mill and the sawmill. James Mills purchased the flour mill property at a pubuc auction in 1868.90 In 1869, Edward P. Mills purchased his brother James's share of the mills and Susan Albee sold her remaining mill property to William H. Houlton in 1873.91 Edward Mills and William Houlton went into business together and operated the Mills and Houlton Flouring and Saw Mills. In 1875 they updated their sawmill to include a double circular saw, an edger, a trimmer, and a lath and shingle machine, which increased the mills capacity to.20,000 feet perday.92 By 1880 the Mills and Houlton sawmill had two circular saws, employed an average of eight men, and operated fulltime four months out of the year while being idle the other eight months.93 The sawmill was destroyed by the May 1887 fire that also destroyed the planing and flour mills at Upper Town. (8) William Houlton Sa1Vfl1i11s (See Figures 2, 3 and 4) 31