The M. R. Smith Shingle Mill in Mineral, Wash., is no longer. But if you’re ever up there fishing, you can squint and easily imagine the place a bustling timber town and logs floating lake.
“The M.R. Smith Shingle Company mill was established in 1905 and survived into the 1980s. Western cedar grows as single trees or in small grows. The mill paid a small premium for cedar logs, cut them into bolts of generally 16 inches for shakes and 24 inches for shingles.
“The bolts were then debarked and graded. Shakes could be made by hand, and when milled were smooth on one side and had a uniform thickness. Shingles were cut to a taper for three-eighth inches to a point. Shakes and shingles that were to be transported were kiln dried to reduce shipping weight.
“A properly installed cedar roof could last over 60 years. The terminology for shakes and shingles appear to have varied by time and location. (Per Upper Nisqually Valley)
Image courtesy of Laurie Anderson Osborn.
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Eatonville To Rainier 