Technology in Timber County...
a Better Way to Build a Dam
Having water around a sawmill is a good thing. It’s easier to move logs and lumber, and put out fires. The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company found this site near good timber and decided a reservoir would make there operation more efficient. The problem was making a strong dam with as little material as possible.
John S. Eastwood devised a solution – the first reinforced concrete multiple arch dam. Water pressure on the upstream faces of the arches holds the dam in place. The material required was just a fraction of that required for a block or single arch dam. Can you imagine getting this project done in 114 days for &46,541? That’s what it took in 1908.
By 1910, the lake was the hub of a large mill complex. Imagine a boiler house, power house, foundry, a three-story high mill, and two drying kilns. Along the far lake shore, the community provided housing, a dining hall, post office, and hospital.
A network of railroad lines radiated from the camp to the timber groves. Milled lumber left the camp via the more than 60-mile flume to Sanger. It was an impressive engineering feat.
In spite of the technology, expenses exceeded revenue. War, recession, labor problems, poor markets and fire combined to destroy the Hume Lake lumber operation.
Marker can be reached from Sandy Cove Road (Forest Road 13S06).
Courtesy hmdb.org
