Arcadia Area Lumbering Timeline

1854

Sam Gilbert reports that Harrison Averill is operating a sawmill on the creek that dumps into the northeast corner of Lower Herring Lake.  

1866

"Early in the fall of 1866 a number of families sought homes in the northwestern corner of Manistee County, near the shores of a small sheet of water that lay glimmering smilingly in the sunlight."

The Turnersport Pier Co. builds a pier for the purpose of shipping lumber across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.  

1870

Silas Overpack of Manistee begins building and selling big wheels. Lumbering can more readily be performed throughout the year.  

1874

Henry Huntington opens a steam-powered sawmill. It is located on Sprague's Creek four miles south of Arcadia near the Lake Michigan shore. It employs five people.  

1876

George Dwyer opens a sawmill at Pierport. He sells it a year later to C.W. Perry.  

1880

Construction begins on the 130 ft. bridge pier in Lake Michigan at the end of Lake Street. The pier would later be extended to 1000 ft.

A sawmill is built by the Starke Bros. in what is called Starkeville. A second sawmill is built by H. Brown. The Huntington sawmill closes.  

1881

The first lumber is shipped from the Arcadia pier. The schooner Arab makes regular trips back and forth across the lake.  

1882

Manistee City Directory describes a sawmill at Burnham owned by the Shaw brothers.  

1892

Construction begins on a channel between Bar Lake and Lake Michigan and a harbor, so ships can enter the lake and tie up at docks built along the shore line.  

1893

Henry Starke forms the Starke Land & Lumber Company. Its assets include the Starke sawmill, the Arcadia & Betsey River Railway, timber holdings, and other land in and around Arcadia, Michigan.

The channel into Lake Arcadia and harbor are completed. Bar Lake becomes a safe harbor for shipping on the Great Lakes.

The pier in Lake Michigan is no longer used.  

1906

The Starke Land & Lumber Company sawmill burns down. The company works out a deal with the Fox & Mason Company to build furniture. The sawmill is replaced by the Arcadia Furniture Company, which includes a small sawmill.

No longer needed to haul lumber to other ports, the steamer Arcadia is sold.  

1910

The new Arcadia Lumber Company opens a sawmill along the northeast shore of Lake Arcadia on Arcadia Point. The sawmill, which would eventually employ at least 38 people, sells lumber to the Starke Land & Lumber Company and other businesses that could be reached by ship.

Arcadia Lumber Company Officers, Directors, and Stockholders: President: Joseph Crotcher of Traverse City, Michigan Vice President: Ralph Case of Kingsley, Michigan Secretary and Treasurer: John Grund of Arcadia, Michigan  

1915

The harbor is closed to all shipping, because shifting sand that filled the entrance is not removed.

The Arcadia Lumber Company sawmill operator, John Grund, dies on August 26. Lumber is getting scarce and harder to deliver. With John Grund's executor, Harvey Grund, serving as Secretary and Treasurer, the board decides to close the sawmill and liquidate the company's assets.  

1917

The Arcadia Lumber Company files its final annual report. The sawmill is officially closed permanently.