Logging train dumping logs in the White River, c. 1900. Photograph from the archive of the Lakeshore Museum Center.
On Thursday, Jan. 24, “Lumbering on the White River” will be the topic of discussion during Family Night at the White Lake Community Library.
Jackie Huss, the Education curator of the Lakeshore Museum Center in Muskegon, will explore lumbering along the White River using hands-on artifacts and images from the museum’s collection from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. She will discuss the process of lumbering beginning with the lumber jacks cutting down the white pines, processing the logs at the sawmills and transporting them out of White Lake.
Participants will also learn about the affect of the lumbering on the river, lake, and forest and the changes to the environment when the lumbering era came to an end. A variety of lumbering tools including a cross cut saw and scale stick will be on display along with a log end and a log mark from a White Lake area sawmill.
This is a free family program which begins at 6:30 p.m. The White Lake Community Library is located at 3900 White Lake Drive in Whitehall.