A couple of weeks ago webmaster Roger Thorburn and his wife Nancy, my wife Sarah and me drove down from Fort Bragg to Sebastapol to visit Stugeons Mill – the last steam driven mill in California. They have an excellent website and I commend you to visit the history section and the historical photos section. There is also am excellent movie of the mill in operation.

The day was beautiful. The food was first class and we had a great time. Roger took some great photos – see below.

The first thing you see as you drive in is the log dump which contained some really good looking redwood.

Logs waiting to be sawed

Next you pass a corral wherein there some gorgeous shire horses.

Shires

Then there is the stump festooned with the tools used to fall a tree.

Stump with tools used to cut down a tree

Pass this stumps and you arrive at the Mill itself. The truck backed up into the mill takes away the cut lumber.

Sturgeon’s Mill

This is the oil fired boiler that powers the mill and the planer.

Oil fired boiler

Close up of the saw bladed in the mill. OSHA didn’t exist when this baby operated.

Close up of saw blades

More photos in next post.