The Beebe River Mill, in Campton, was
built in 1917, to harvest the timber in the Squam and Sandwich
ranges. It was operated by the Woodstock Lumber Co. and Parker
Young. A whole town was built, with houses for the workers, a
company store, boarding house, movie theatre, and of course, a large
new sawmill. The photo above shows one of the mill buildings
in about 1926, when the mill complex had been bought by The Draper
Mills Corporation, to be used for the production of bobbins for
Draper's textile mills and for sale to other textile
companies. While it was owned and operated by the Parker Young
Company it was fully integrated with the Lincoln complex, with raw
materials, finished goods, scrap, and supplies moving back back and
forth on the East Branch and Lincoln Railroad, also fully owned by
Parker Young. In addition, an extensive logging railroad
operated from the Beebe River mill into the surrounding forests, to
supply the mill.
Oddly, photos showing the mill complex,
as built by Parker Young in 1917 are elusive. If you have any
early photos, we'd really appreciate the opportunity to copy
them.
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