McLean Mill National Historic Site (Port Alberni, British Columbia)

 museum, place with historical importance, production, sawmill

The McLean Sawmill is the only steam-operated sawmill remaining in Canada. You can experience the excitement of steam, as the sawmill cuts wood for demonstration and sale. The "Tin Pants Theatre" troupe will entertain you with stage shows at the Nikkei Theatre and show you around the site as if you were just starting work at the mill. You'll see the old original buildings and lots of restored logging equipment around the site including a steam donkey, logging trucks, graders and lumber carriers.

The mill was operated by R.B. McLean and his three sons from 1926 to 1965. It is a showcase of pioneering get-it-done attitude and inventiveness. The mill is typical of the remote coastal lumber camp and sawmill complex from the middle of the last century and has been named a National Historic Site (1989) to commemorate the history of logging and saw milling in British Columbia. The site is a very complete collection of industrial and personal memories of the people that lived and worked there.

Since 1995 and continuing to the present, the site has been restored with funds from Heritage Canada, Forest Renewal BC, the BC Heritage Trust, BC Community Futures, the Regional District of Alberni-Clayoquot and the City of Port Alberni. MacMillan Bloedel donated the land. The sawmill has been rebuilt to operate as it did in 1965, including a replica of its 1928 log carriage. The camp buildings are in the process of been restored and furnished as they were at particular times in their history.

Visitors can ride the historic Alberni Valley Railway steam train from downtown Port Alberni to the mill.

An important part of the sites a fish hatchery and fish ladder which has improved salmon production and habitat on Kitsuksis Creek.

www.alberniheritage.com/mclean-mill/welcome-mclean-stea...