Barber Dam and Lumber Mill

The Barber dam and Lumber mill historical archaeological site is archaeologically significant as:

one of the few remaining lumber mill facilities left standing from the 1900s. It offers visitors an opportunity to actually see the interrelationship between the dam, lake, powerhouse, and once-standing mill.

Although the site has been abandoned for almost a half-century (the mill was dismantled in 1934), from a strictly historical archaeological perspective the site appears virtually undisturbed. The pasture where the plant once stood has never been plowed. As the lumber operation was only in operation for the first three decades of this century, the plant site provides an unparalleled opportunity to expand the database for future historical and industrial archaeological research, not only locally but regionally as well, in an industry so important to the development of Idaho's economy, and that of the west.

Barber dam and mill was only one facet of the pioneering operation of the Weyerhauser group in Idaho at the turn of the century. Like all too many of these undertakings, the Barber Lumber Company was characterized by:

bright initial hopes, extensive acquisition of timber, unexpected difficulties in logging and transport, failure of manufacture to justify investment, heavy assessments on stockholders, and a growing sense of frustration.

Organized in July 1902 by James T. Barber, Sumner G. (Jack) Moon, and others the Barber Lumber Company anticipated large returns from its 25,000 acres of timberland located along Grimes and More's creek in the Boise Basin. In October 1904 the company commenced erecting the mill, power plant, and company town east of Boise. An Idaho Daily Statesman editorial reflected the optimism of the owners and expressed the local excitement and interest in the undertaking.

As the company will employ several hundred men in the construction of its works and in making the necessary river improvements and keep perhaps 200 employed constantly, the enterprise becomes of very great importance to the city. The coming of these people will mark a new era in the industrial development of Boise. The lumbering enterprise is of the highest importance in itself, while it is likely to be the indirect means of bringing about other developments that will further add to the prosperity of the city.

Such were the hopes of 1904, which were rendered architecturally through the classically inspired powerhouse.

By November 1905 the 1500 horsepower electrical plant was in operation, and, through a contract with the Capital Electric Light, Motor and Gas Company of Boise, was supplying Boise with its power. The mill was not yet in operation, however, due to difficulties incurred in attempting to drive logs down Grimes and More's creeks. Heavy snows prevented winter logging and high water was needed to drive the logs. Thus the ponderosa logs had to sit in water all winter, which stained them blue and produced low-grade lumber. To circumvent this problem the Intermountain Railway Company was granted a charter in 1907 to build a line between Centerville and Barber. Due to economic and legal difficulties, the railroad was not begun until 1914, following the merger of the Barber Lumber Company with the Payette Lumber Company. The mill, which had been closed since 1908, resumed operations in 1915.

The mill remained in operation until the depression hit and in 1934 was closed down and dismantled.