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HISTORY

Mill Office to Trout Creek Library

By Lucy McDonald

Located at 121 Division Street, the former Mill office building was built by the Weidman Lumber Company. That office held the records, ran the lumber and sawmill business, and readied the paychecks which the Superintendent of the mill distributed every two weeks on Friday.  In the early days, the men worked ten-hour days, and wages were approximately fifty-to-eighty or ninety dollars per pay check.  Later, paychecks were for eight-hour days, which had become law in the 1930s.  Records and money were kept in a smaller safe inside a big walk-in safe with a double steel door. The large walk-in safe is still a part of the building though the locking system has been dismantled for safety.

Wilho (Bill) Perttula, a local Trout Creek resident and long time employee in the lumber mill office, has offered his memories and recollections which provide a picture of the area’s rich lumber history and the mill office building.

When the Weidman Lumber Company left during the depression years in the 1930’s, the mill was closed.  In addition to the vacant mill office, the former mill owner left behind a house that he had built on the hill at the east end of the street named Weidman. The house burned; however, another house, “Hummingbird Hill,” was built in its place and still stands on the hill today.

In 1937, the Abbott Fox Mill, then operating sawmills in Iron Mountain and Wisconsin, reopened the sawmill and the mill office. Again the big safe held records and money. Cash was paid out only for lumber and wood, and incoming cash went to the bank in Iron Mountain.

Abbott Fox Mill had a big sawmill that handled the sixteen-foot logs. It was torn down because the veneer that had come into popularity required the large logs (large around) to be sawed into eight-foot lengths, a problem for the mill.  Later, the small mill that handled the eight-foot logs burned down sometime around 1968.

The Cleveland Cliffs Mining Company came in about 1972. They owned much of the land and wood; however, they were not familiar with running a sawmill. They put Abbott Fox in charge of their forestry.

The mill office was closed and never used as a mill office again. The building was modified and used as a home. In 1991 Brian Aho purchased the building and remodeled the southeast corner of the building for a barbershop.  He lived in the other areas of the building. Three to four years later the barbershop was closed, and the building was sold.

During the fall of 2003 the building was purchased for use as a library, and The Trout Creek Library was opened to the public in November. On December 13, 2003, Santa and his helpers came to the Trout Creek Library, and many children and their parents enjoyed the activities and getting acquainted with the library. During that afternoon, many area residents enjoyed a Library Open House—they recalled the times of the mill office, viewed the library in progress, and checked out some books. 

A new era has been started for the old mill office building. It now houses the Trout Creek Library which provides books and activities that are free to the public in the community and the surrounding areas on Tuesday’s from 3:00-5:00 P.M. and Saturday’s from 10:00 A.M.-12:00 Noon.

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