Technological Revolution

When this sawmill opened in 1839, a slow-turning undershot waterwheel powered its single saw blade. By 1852, a forty-foot-tall overshot wheel driven by water from the newly constructed millpond across Judd Street had been installed, powering multiple saw blades that could process more than two million board feet of lumber a year. In 1873, the Walker, Judd and Veazie Lumber Company remodeled the mill, installing a fifty-horsepower steam engine linked by belts to faster circular and gang saws. Operating as Anderson and O'Brien in 1888, the mill had a new one hundred fifty-horsepower steam engine, electric lights, and a planing mill. When it closed for good in 1895, the frame buildings were torn down and the equipment was sold to firms in Minneapolis and Stillwater.

Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota · United States