Historic Hood River
Nicolai Mill
Notes
This view of the Nicolai Mill was taken from Mitchell Point. From the 1890s until 1908 this mill was one of the major producers in the area. We have record books from the one room Columbia School at Nicolai at the museum, so we know there was a community of people living nearby. The Hood River Glacier often included dispatches from Nicolai. Around 1903 the name was changed from Nicolai to Menominee. At least some of the logs milled there came down the White Salmon River, according to this report in the Glacier. As late as 1907 they were blasting rocks out of the White Salmon so their logs wouldn’t get hung up.
The rail siding was later named Menominee, and in 1921 shortened to Meno (probably because no one could spell Menominee!). We discussed this mill in this much earlier post.
The Menominee Mill was destroyed by fire in June 1908, though dispatches from residents of Menominee continued to appear in the Glacier for another decade or so.
JEC
According to Oregon Geographic Names the name was shortened to Meno by the railroad (OWR&N at the time) to minimize wear and tear on telegraph keys and telegrapher fingers.
L. E.
Thanks for the detailed history.
It sounds like a few months before it burned, it had been purchased by Wind River Lumber Co.
Arthur Babitz
Fires were a fact of life in mill. Lots of sawdust and wood and oil and sources of combustion. The “night watchman” job was to watch for fires when the mill was empty, but the history of mills here is one of fires and rebuilding.