Place

Wayside: A Green Gold Mine

"A Green Gold Mine" wayside sign on North Manitou Island

Audio Description

Main Exhibit Text

In the 1840s, entrepreneurs looked at the island’s timber and saw a green gold mine. A quick calculation of the hundreds of Great Lakes steamships needing fuel, plus the tons of cordwood waiting to be cut and sold, equaled money in the bank. Docks were built, crews hired, and clear-cutting began. When ships converted to coal, timber extraction switched to lumber production. This sawmill was built in the late 1920s.

It was powered by an 1875 steam engine and equipment transferred from another mill. It is the only known original, steam-powered sawmill in Michigan. Island mills provided jobs for local Anishinaabek and new immigrants. They produced timber, planking, and shingles. The chugging, hissing, and buzzing of the sawmill can no longer be heard, but extensive lumbering here forever altered North Manitou Island.

Image Descriptions

Background Image

The background of this exhibit is a black and white historic photograph of a massive stack of logs ready to go to the sawmill. The logs are piled very high and there are multiple rows going back into the distance. Standing near the top of the piles are four workers. There are also two other workers visible lower down on the pile. The men are wearing dark clothes and hats and are carrying long sticks and tools used to move the logs. The black and white image bleeds up into a blue sky.

Historic Photograph (lower right)

In the lower right corner of the exhibit is a sepia-colored historic photograph of a sawmill. The sawmill is covered in snow and there is smoke billowing out. Behind the sawmill is a low hill covered in trees.