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Sawmills <br /> Mills and Houlton Lumber Mill <br /> In Uppertown,Mills and Houlton's Lumber Mill on the site of <br /> the former Godfrey Mill produced a variety of lath,single,or <br /> sawn lumber. The saw and planning mill was later W.H. <br /> Houlton and Company.With 60 workers by 1900,it was Elk <br /> River's largest employer. While the steam or water-powered <br /> planing mill remained on the Elk River,in 1868 Houlton built a <br /> new steam-powered sawmill on the Mississippi(see photo <br /> below). Its log elevator,which conveyed the logs from the <br /> river into the mill,was a distinctive feature of the structure. <br /> In Lowertown,a planing mill was built in 1873 by Thomas S. <br /> and W.C.Nickerson.One early resident remembered of the <br /> Uppertown mill that <br /> north of this mill was a'city of lumberpiles'with long <br /> narrow streets and what seemed to us in those days to be <br /> regular skyscrapers of lumber on each side.At the northwest <br /> side of the yard were the piles of slab wood ready for delivery <br /> to people in town.When the mill closed and the lumber yard <br /> was finally abandoned there was still a large pile of kindling <br /> wood there and for many years local people could go there <br /> and dig up slabs."6° <br /> This mill burned in1887 in the fire that spread to the chair <br /> factory and various sheds and elevators. <br /> The Houlton saw mill on the <br /> Mississippi.Undated view.Photo: <br /> < MHS. <br /> � ✓ 9 Fy , f <br /> iii <br /> • <br /> �� <br /> -" <br /> Elk River Historic Contexts and Phase II Downtown Commercial Area Study <br /> 33 <br />