Basket Factory

Archive

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Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

Name/Title

Basket Factory

Entry/Object ID

2021.87.111

Scope and Content

The Local Observer newspaper Remembering When - Our History article titled "Remembering the Basket Factory" LO04 Feb. 9, 2005 Written by Jack Sheridan and Jim Schmiechen. Digital files use to create this article and associated resources at 2021.72.02

Context

In the 1874 a drawbridge was the final link of two short bridges and a causeway ending at the Douglas shore (top photo). This intersection was just below the site of the basket factory. A schooner with sails hoisted lies at the factory wharf. In those days the area was known as mill point, site of the 1851 Mill Point sawmill established by Jonathon Wade. When the pine-log sawing business declined, the sawmill continued to operate as a planing mill. Then in the early 1870s, fruit growing came on strong and Robert Reid acquired the factory for the manufacture of fruit containers. He was a ship captain—perhaps the schooner was his vessel. The lower photo shows the basket factory as it looked from the upriver side. The photo dates to the early 1900s when the basket factory was going full tilt. Hardwoods were cut during winter and log booms were rafted downriver in the spring and summer. At the mill, special equipment sliced logs into thin strips. The flexible strips were then used to make boxes and baskets that were essential to the handling of fruit. Reid operated the factory for a few years before selling it to Joshua Weed and son William. Another son, E. E. Weed eventually bought and ran the business along with partners James Wark and D. Milton Gerber. By 1910 the factory was one of the largest of its kind and employed up to 200 workers. Predictably, it suffered the same fate that befell many steam-powered mills of era, burning to the ground in the spring of 1927. Today the only traces of the basket factory are old pilings out in the river—a trace of the log containment area. Take a look the next time you pass by.

Collection

Remembering When, 1875 Basket factories

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2021.87

Source or Donor

Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-

Acquisition Method

Donation

Location

* Untyped Location

Digital data in CatalogIt

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-, Schmiechen, James A., Basket Factories in Douglas circa 1851-1927

Related Publications

Publication

Local Observer

Create Date

December 25, 2022

Update Date

November 18, 2023