The Unstoppable Shingle Mill
How a local landmark on Fish Trap Creek turned out 121,000 shingles in a single day.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Last Friday, Waples shingle mill sawed more shingles than it has done in any one day since its present manager, C. E. Holmes, took charge of it three years ago. The total cut was 121,000 and two of the saws cut 42,000 apiece. Manager Holmes says this mill has not shut down for over two weeks at a time since he has had charge of it and that a large part of the time has run day and night. The average daily cut of the mill during that time has been over 70,000 per day. The Waples shingle mill is located on the Fish Trap Creek near the public school building, within the city limits. It is interesting to know that the mill was built there some five years ago, that two-thirds of the crew then employed are still working there and that it has pounded right along, rain or shine, good times or bad, during the whole time.
“It has pounded right along, rain or shine, good times or bad, during the whole time.”
The shingle industry once defined the landscape and economy of the Nooksack Valley. While the mills are mostly gone, the legacy of this labor remains in the foundations of the community, and Fish Trap Creek remains a key part of the local geography.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.