Lumber Yards and Sawmills

After the logs were shipped by train to the sawmills, they were deposited in one of two places, depending on the facilities of the sawmill: (1) a log yard; or (2) a log pond. A log pond was the most desirable of the two, because the water made it easier to move, sort, and load the logs into the sawmill. A small crew of workers was all that was required to manage the logs in a log pond. The log pond was also useful because the water helped to wash dirt and other debris from the outside of the log before it went into the sawmill. In a log yard, the dirt and debris had to be washed off by hand.

When the logs were taken into the sawmill, they were cut in a number of sizes, widths, and lengths, depending on the demand from the customer. The first cuts on the logs were taken to remove the bark; then cuts were made into the outer rings of the log, where the lumber of highest quality was located, in order to make planks. Then boards were made of the knotty wood from the center of the log. After each board was cut, it was removed from the sawing area and placed on a conveyer or a set of rollers, which would take the freshly cut boards from the sawmill to the lumberyard.

The log yard had several advantages and disadvantages. First of all, it was easier to find places to build sawmills if they did not require a log pond. Unlike storage in a log pond, the logs in a log yard could be stacked on top of one another, which made much more space for storage. However, it took many more workers and more machinery to manage a log yard; whereas logs can be moved by one person when floating in water, it would take either several men or a piece of heavy machinery to move the logs around in the log yards. It also took more time to sort the logs into species in a lumber yard.