Craig Mountain Lumber Company

About the Digital Collection

This digital collection consists of blueprints, maps, and correspondence from MG 12, the Craig Mountain Lumber Company Records collection. The items are from Box 01 of the collection, held by Special Collections and Archives.

About Craig Mountain Lumber Company

In 1909, a group of Wisconsin pioneers built the Craig Mountain Lumber Company and sawmill in Lewis County, Idaho with the company’s head office located in Spokane, Washington. The company also constructed a railroad to connect to the Camas Prairie Line. Production ensued and the first log was sawed on July 4, 1910, and a new town was built near the mill. The town was later consolidated with Winchester, Idaho.

The sawmill was the largest in northern Idaho with the latest machinery, including two single cutting band saws. After the lumber was cut, it was taken from the mill to the drykilns, next to the planers, then to be graded and shipped. In 1910, 270 men were employed by the mill. They worked ten hours a day for between 25 and 75 cents per hour.

A failed attempt was made to unionize the mill workers during World War I. By 1919, the mill closed due the lack of a market for the lumber product. The mill reopened in 1922, but was closed again by 1930 during the Great Depression. The mill opened once again in 1935 and was bought by the Hallack and Howard Lumber Company, who sold Craig Mountain Lumber Company to Boise-Cascade in 1960. In 1965, Boise-Cascade deemed the lumber too far from the mill’s location for transport and the mill was finally closed permanently.

Information about this collection has been adapted from the finding aid of MG 12 Craig Mountain Lumber Company Records written by Judith Nielsen. More detailed information about the collection and its contents can be found in the collection’s finding aid.