The Story of Mill Creek Sawmill - Fueling Frontier Forts & Fur Traders

In 1790, the original Mill Creek sash sawmill was built in northern Michigan to serve trappers, fur traders, and the nearby military forts built for both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Being built in a frontier area, and before the first circular saw sawmills, it used the sash sawmill technology developed in France nearly a thousand years earlier.

Water-powered sawmills need a good water source, but Mill Creek often suffers from low water flow. This forced them to get innovative with their solutions. Building a wooden dam to give a bit more water drop and help to hold water, they also built both a flutter wheel waterwheel and as a separate, horizontal waterwheel called a tub wheel.

Fashion is a fickle thing, though, and men's hat fashion shifted from fur to silk, leading to the demise of the fur industry at Mackinaw, and the closure and abandonment of the Mill Creek Sawmill.

The mill had nearly disappeared but, thanks to archaeological detective work, both on the mainland, and on Mackinaw Island, they were able to reproduce the original dam and sawmill, even using investigations to determine the original sawblade size and pitch!

Join me as I explore the Mill Creek sawmill, see the pit saw IN USE that preceded it, and watch this sash sawmill in use, cutting lumber, today.

Filmed on location.

Note: You will see locations in this area written as both Mackinaw and Mackinac. These are both considered correct, and are both usually pronounced with a "w" sound at the end.

Related videos:
Everything about waterwheels:    • The Waterwheels That Powered the Industria...  

Visit the Historic Mill Creek Sawmill: mackinacparks.com/attraction/historic-mill-creek

Support the channel:
Patreon:   / industrialrevolution  
Affiliate store: https://www.explorationguides.com/Store/

#industrialrevolution #waterpower #waterwheel #sawmill #sashsawmill #Mackinaw #Mackinac #woodendam