Smith's Mill (Glen Forrest)

Parent Place or Precinct

26283 King Jarrah, Sawmills and Sawpit

History

Smiths Mill (Glen Forrest) : The first saw mill in what is now the Shire of Mundaring was set up in 1877, by 40 year old farmer Alfred Charles Smith, son of Richard and Mary Smith of Clayton Farm (Site 79). It was located on Swan Location 754, near Nyaania Creek, and employed 6 or 7 men who cut up to 10 loads per week. Officially called the York Greenmount Sawmill, it was known as Smiths Mill, and the locality took this name until 1915. Before the advent of the Eastern Railway, the logs were cut, seasoned, and taken to Guildford by wagon, and then by river to Perth or Fremantle. When the second section of the Eastern Railway began in March 1882, the contractor James Wright did not use the existing sawmills, such as this one but set up his own at what is now Mt Helena. When Alfred returned to farming in c 1883, his son Thomas built a mud brick house (Site 88), and operated the mill until the scarcity of local timber led to its closure in c 1900.

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