View of the first Sawmill of the Sagola Lumber Company

First Sagola Lumber Company, Sagola, ca. 1890-1900: Probably taken in the 1890s, this photograph shows the first sawmill of the Sagola Lumber Company and the millpond. Note the water barrels which have been placed along the ridge of the rooftop for use in case of fire. The tramway trails off to the left where the lumber was stacked and stored. On the lower level near the center of the photograph a horse-drawn slab cart was being loaded from a chute between the upper and lower levels of the mill. At the time the Laing Lumber Company was organized a purchase of stumpage, estimated at 35,000,000 feet, was closed from the Lake Superior Ship Canal & Iron Company, lying just east of the townsite, and a narrow gauge railroad was built to haul the logs to the mill. During the latter part of 1888, John R. Wood, of Iron Mountain, and Capt. John Perkins, of Norway, purchased some stock in the company and became members of the board of directors. The business of the company was conducted by John O’Callaghan and William S. Laing for three years, after which Laing, Wood and Perkins sold their interests, representing one half of the capital stock to the Wittenbergs of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and the name of the company was changed to the Sagola Lumber Company. The capital stock was increased to $100,000 at that time. For six years afterwards, John O’Callaghan had charge of the logging end of the business and Richard Wittenberg had charge of the commercial end. In the fall of 1897, John O’Callaghan and Patrick Flanagan exchanged their interest in a logging railroad in Minnesota for the Wittenberg interest in the Sagola Lumber Company and the following year sold a half interest in the company to Thomas Hughes and J.M. Attley, of the firm of Hughes and Attley, of Chicago, Illinois. [Ida Swanson]