Sawmills in the early days of north-central Siskiyou County numbered in the dozens. Some operated for only months and others for many years. Today there are few traces left.
The Schmitt Brothers Mill was located a half mile up Ball Mountain Road. It began operations in 1930 and shut down in 1939. Trucks brought the logs to the mill, which cut about 25,000 board feet of lumber daily.
The water-powered Cleland Mill, located just off Ball Mountain Road, operated during the 1870’s.
The Spaulding Mill, about two miles north of the Cleland Mill, operated around 1906. Lumber was hauled in on a wood-burning tractor with wheels 7 feet high and tires 3 feet wide. The tractor powered three trucks.
The Loosley Mill operated from 1912 to 1914 above the Spaulding Mill. It cut about 25,000 board feet of lumber a day.
The George Soule [Sue-lay] Mill, built in 1889 about two miles from the summit of Ball Mountain cut some 12,000 board feet of lumber a day, receiving $7.00 per thousand for what was known as “common” lumber.
Source: Meamber, R. Bernice, and T. M. Deter. "Sawmills of North Central Siskiyou." The Siskiyou Pioneer and Yearbook 1.No 3 (1948): 21-22. Print.
