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CA - Dutch Flat,Placer County - 1870s - Dutch Flat Mill Photo - Mueller Collection

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Photographic Images Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 USD
CA - Dutch Flat,Placer County - 1870s - Dutch Flat Mill Photo - Mueller Collection
Session D is a Mail-Bid Only Auction. Absentee bids will be accepted only. No live bidding will be allowed. All winners will be contacted after the auction. BIDDING ENDS MONDAY JUNE 27 AT 5PM PACIFIC TIME!!!
A great photograph taken by Halsey & Coffin showing Towle & Blanchard’s Mill in Dutch Flat, a team of about 8-10 oxen hauling sawn logs on a wooden-wheeled wagon in the foreground while a man stands with his back to the camera and hands on his hips either watching or supervising. Pine trees in the background. The photo is mounted on a tan, printed matte that gives the name of the site and the names of the photographers. The right end of the matting has been cropped and has cut off additional printing. 5 ½ x 5” photo without matte. According to Mautz, Halsey & Coffin had a studio in Dutch Flat in 1874. Allen Towle—and ten years later his brother George—came to Dutch Flat in the 1850s from Vermont. Before long, Allen and his partner Blanchard started a business supplying lumber to the mines nearby. In 1856 they built a water-power sawmill there. The following comes from a special story to the Colfax Record written by Mike Maynard (October 2010), and it continues…

[In 1860] “...the firm of Towle Brothers was born. The brothers expanded their empire building the Kearsage Mill in 1863 and the Alabama and Canyon Creek Mills in 1865. All three were steam powered. In 1875, the Kearsage Mill was rebuilt and a narrow gauge railroad was constructed to bring the products of the mills to the Town of Towle, which contained their general offices. It was also one of the first towns in California with electric lights. Their own system was operated by a dynamo on one of their waterlines. A 35-mile long railroad line connected their mills with the Central Pacific Railroad at what was known as “Alta Switch,” about a mile above the town of Alta. The lumber was transferred to the Central Pacific for shipping to all parts of the Pacific Coast. The company employed approximately 70 Chinese men, who were constantly working on new track and grading for extension of the line. Before 1868, The Towle Bros. supplied lumber and timber for the snow sheds and trestles over the Central Pacific tracks headed over the summit. They built the first pulp mill on the Pacific Coast at Canyon Creek, which ground the tree limbs and other waste like wheat. Some of the pulp was sent to a paper mill at Stockton and some was used in dynamite. In addition to the manufacture of lumber and pulp, they had a sash and door mill as well as a planning. They were also pioneers in the manufacturing of wooden fruit boxes from sugar and yellow pine. As timber supplies were exhausted, nearby new mills were added in Bear Valley, Steep Hollow, Lowell, Deer Creek, Texas Hill and Burnett, all connected by their railroad. By 1882, telephones were installed at each. Bulls and horses used to pull lumber on skid trails were wintered in Lincoln. In 1882, John Robie went to work for the Towle family and eventually married into the Towle family. By 1887 Robie moved his family to Auburn and took charge of the Towle Bros. lumber yard. Edwin Robie, along with his father, John, purchased the Towle yard in 1902 and organized the Auburn Lumber Company, which included the Colfax Lumberyard. Wendell Robie, an icon in Auburn, eventually took over the Auburn Lumber Company and the rest is history [Ref: colfaxrecord.com/].
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