6.2. HRSR 05-28-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The 1870 Federal Census reported the following industrial concerns in Elk River: Firm Name Business Capital Invested Houlton and Nickerson Saw Mill $30,000 George Crocker Blacksmith 1,000 Eddy Dickey Carriages 600 Galley and Baltzell Furniture 1,000 John G.Jameson Blacksmith 300 Mills and Gardner(?) Flour Mill 20.000 H.Houlton Saw Mill 25,000 Mills and Houlton Saw Mill 7,000 Mills and Houlton Flour Mill 50,000 George Crocker Blacksmith 100 Eddy Dickey Carriages 600 Henry Galley Chairs 1,000 John G.Jameson Blacksmith 300 By 1880,the early mills had been enlarged or replaced. The census reported the following firms: Featherston and Co. Cooper shop $3,000 Heebner and Co. Tin and Ironware 1,000 Baltzell and Son Furniture 600 • John M.Crockett Tin and Ironware 500 John G.Jameson Blacksmith and Carriages 3,000 Thomas and Squires Blacksmith Shop 100 Sawmills Mills and Houlton Lumber Mill In Uppertown,Mills and Houlton's Lumber Mill on the site of the Godfrey Mill produced a variety of lath,single,or sawn lumber. The saw and planning mill was later W.H.Houlton and Company and with 60 workers by 1900 was Elk River's largest employer.fi0 While the steam or water-powered planning mill remained on the Elk River,in 1868 Houlton built a steam-powered sawmill on the Mississippi. Its log elevator, which conveyed the logs from the river into the mill,was a distinctive feature of the structure.Another Lowertown planning mill was built in 1873 by Thomas S.and W.C. Nickerson. One early resident remembered of the Uppertown mill that "north of this mill was a"city of lumberpiles"with long narrow streets and what seemed to us in those days to be regular skyscrapers of lumber on each side.At the northwest side of the yard were the piles of slab wood ready for delivery to people in town.When the mill closed and the lumber yard • Elk River Historic Contexts Study Draft 5/2002 28