Lewis and Clark Exposition log cathedral - photos

[Altair]

Lewis and Clark Exposition log cathedral in Portland, Oregon. Built in 1905, the world's largest log cabin burned down in 1964 due to bad 1900s-era wiring.






Previously:

Log cabin building with hand tools - GIF
Richard Proenneke "Alone in the Wilderness"
One-man off-grid log cabin build with homemade tools - video
Setting a giant log beam - GIF
Stump houses - photos
Debarking logs with a pressure washer - GIF

[Beserkleyboy]

I had the good fortune to tour many big lumber mills with my dad in the 60's and early 70's. Weyerhaeuser's Coos Bay and Springfield mills, where they routinely cut those 5-6" diameter logs in 40' lengths, into 'cants' of 6" thickness before edging and re-sawing to 2'' & 4"...and many Calif Redwood mills, the greatest was the old Union Lumber Co. in Fort Bragg, bought by GP in the early 70's, now long closed. Miller Redwood in Arcata was a close second, although much smaller. They had a special large head rig OUTSIDE the main mill, to split logs in half or quarters, that were too big for the main head rig inside! It could not handle anything over about 7' diameter. Most of these old growth mills are gone now...modern mills with quad saws are fascinating at the speed they can churn out dimension lumber, but the old mills were the real deal...on that note, I'll spend the arvo trolling my old growth Doug Fir and Redwood timber in the workshop...cheers, Jim

[Clockguy]

Jim, I am sure that you meant "5'-6' diameter logs" in your message above. Just a heads up for ya .....

[Beserkleyboy]

...that pesky shift key...cheers

[skiercraig]

I am from Portland and I remember visiting this place several times. Was called the worlds largest log cabin. I was only 14 when it burned but they said it was arson at the time. Thanks for the memories.