Historic Hood River
Stanley Smith Planer, 1905
8-27-2015
Notes
Here’s the proud crew of the Stanley Smith planer in the Belmont District, circa 1905. This was near the Saddle Club at the intersection of Belmont and Country Club roads. If I am reading my history correctly, this was the first stop for the logs coming down the flume from Greenpoint (Kingsley). The planed logs then took another flume ride down to the Ruthton mill to be made into finished lumber and loaded onto trains for market.
Kenn
I assume the barrels on the roof catwalk are fire protection.
Longshot
That must have been pretty tricky climbing the ladder up the wall and then working ones way over the eave, coming back down would have been even worse. Maybe there were some old sailors in the crew.
Jerry L.
Looking at the shadows, I think there’s an indentation in the line of the eaves that would allow the ladder climber to clamber up to a connecting ladder that lays flat on the roof, allowing the climber to reach the peak of the roof to service the wood structures and water tanks.
This mill was one of the Davenport Brother’s locations up until about this time, and I believe it was sold to Stanley-Smith, with the Davenports managing it. The man on the second to left looks like either Marcus Davenport or Fred Newby, who was married to Frank Davenport’s eldest child, Helen R. Davenport. They both had mustaches like that, as did another brother William. They were both active in the management of the Davenport Brother’s lumber business. And yes, Arthur, this was a mill that was fed from Greenpoint, with the continuing flume to the Ruthton mill and box factory. Greenpoint itself was fed by flume from three small lakes to the Northeast of what is now the Kingsley Reservoirs.