THE

Power of Steam

A steam-powered sawmill survives. [by dale dougherty]

Plumes of steam rise from a rusted tin roof and from side vents underneath the wooden building. They float among the redwoods that line the canyon and merge into a low, morning fog that has rolled in from the coast. A portal to the past has opened to reveal Sturgeon’s Mill.

It’s a world of steam whistles and forged iron, rumbling wooden floorboards and rhythmically pulsing, gleaming machinery, filled with moist air and piles of wet sawdust. At its center is a beast of a circular blade, with huge teeth, ripping through a giant log. Everywhere, men are working, unable to speak to each other above the noise, each one tasked with keeping the newly restored California sawmill alive.

Photography courtesy of Sturgeon’s Mill (top), and by Dale Dougherty (bottom)

52 Make: Volume 17