"I had no idea there was so much business done here. In just one mill where Charley is at work, they saw one hundred thousand feet a day. It keeps Charley pretty busy. He don't get any time to rest except Sunday."
???? ?From the letters of: ?Ellen Spaulding Miller
???? ???????? ????????? ???? ?Eau Claire, 1873
??? Between 1857 and 1890, Eau Claire had up to sixteen mills sawing logs along the banks of its waterways and holding ponds. Mill owners such as Daniel Shaw, Orrin Ingram and William Carson competed for the bounty of logs which were floated downstream in the Chippewa River. Over 989 million board feet of logs came down the river in 1884 alone!
??? One of the larger mills in Eau Claire at this time was the Daniel Shaw Lumber Company. It began operation in 1857 just to the west of this site at the outlet of Half Moon Lake and within the first year employed 20 men. Shaw's mill dominated the western part of Eau Claire, originally platted as Westville in 1869. Due to the mill's presence, the area soon earned the name "Shawtown" and by the early 1890's, the lumber company employed 249 men and encompassed 12 buildings on 200 acres of land. Shaw also operated grist mills under the name "Crescent Mills," said to be one of the best flour mills in the state in 1880.
??? With the decline in the lumbering industry, the Daniel Shaw Lumber Company was one of the last of the lumber mills to close in 1912. Its office still stands at 109 South Michigan Street. This portion of Eau Claire is still referred to as "Shawtown".
Sponsored by:
The Michael and Carol Benrud Family
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