They Sawed up a Storm

by Sarah Shea Smith

Book by Sarah Shea Smith

66 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short book, only 66 pages, of which about 54 pages are the main content and the rest are references and index. It reads like a short research report, telling the story of a women’s sawmill that was setup at Turkey Pond in New Hampshire to help clean up and make useful the huge number of trees that were blow over and destroyed by the great hurricane of 1938 that surprised large parts of New England. All the downed trees posed a massive fire risk so the government, along with private enterprise, set up sawmills to clear out the trees. But the onset of World War II made it difficult to keep enough men working at the mills, so the government took a chance and opened the first women’s mill of its kind at Turkey Pond. Though only active for a little over a year it proved very successful. This book is a short report of that time, full of photos of the women and the mill. A fascinating read for folks interested in a small piece of local history.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting description and history of the sawmill at Turkey Pond, Concord, NH, that was staffed by women. The mill was opened to process trees felled by the hurricane of 1938.