Gregoryville Saw Mill

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Title: Gregoryville Saw Mill
Photographer: Unknown
Subject Headings: Forest Products Industry - Lumbering - Logging - Log Transportation - Log Driving, Manufacturing Process - Mills and Millwork - Saw Mills, Manners and Customs - Clothing and Dress
Condition: Good
Description: Gregoryville Saw Mill. [A photo of a man standing on logs floating in a holding pond. The logs appear to have been cut to a standard length and an active sawmill is in the background. The glass negative is broken in the upper right-hand corner.]
Source of Description: Negative notebook database[cataloger]
Institution: Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections
Donor: J.Harry Reeder
Date of Photo: undated
Medium: still image
Color: black and white
Size: 12.6 cm x 20.0 cm
Polarity: Negative
Image No: MS042-042-T-415
Collection Name: Reeder Photograph Collection
Terms of Use: Rights to reproduce and distribute this image may be restricted. Contact the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections for further information.
User Comments:
• First settled in 1851, Lake Linden was at the heart of a booming lumber district with a thriving French Canadian community. French Canadians published newspapers, established churches and schools, and worked in sawmills. One of the most well-known individuals associated with that industry was Joseph Grégoire. Born in St. Valentin, Quebec in 1833, he came to Lake Linden when he was 21 years old. He found work as a woodsman, and in 1867 went into partnership with Louis Deschamps and Joseph Normandin. Together, they operated a sawmill until 1872 when Grégoire assumed sole ownership. Grégoire ultimately built a small empire consisting of mills, factories, and 65 thousand acres of timberlands. Grégoire also had a hand in constructing Lake Linden’s first church: St. Joseph’s was built in 1871 and dedicated to St. Joseph de Calasant.To learn more about the French Canadian community in Lake Linden, visit the Interior Ellis Island web site.
12/14/2005 7:02:15 PM by Erik Nordberg, MTU Archivist