Cedar Creek Grist Mill

Photo by Cliff West

The Cedar Creek Grist Mill near Woodland, Washington, was built in 1876 by George Woodham and his sons as the Red Bird Mill. The water powered mill ground grain into flour, cornmeal, and livestock feed. In 1879, George Woodham moved to Centralia, taking his milling equipment with him, and the mill was sold to Mike Lynch. By 1881 it was sitting unused until it was leased to Gustave Utter, who built a new log dam and flume and installed a Leffel turbine. Utter sold the mill and moved away around 1901. The mill was purchased by Gorund Roslund in 1905, but didn't operate again until 1909. Roslund added a shingle mill, and his son Victor converted the main floor into a machine shop around 1912. A blacksmith shop was also added to the front of the building, operated by another of Rosland's sons, Elmer. Victor converted the upper floor into an apartment for himself, and operated the machine shop until 1953.

Photo by Cliff West

After Victor's death in the late 1950s, the Washington State Fisheries Department purchased the property to remove the dam on Cedar Creek and build a fish ladder, but the mill sat unused. In 1961 the Fort Vancouver Historical Society leased the mill. It was registered as an historic place and the foundation was replaced, but it still sat empty. The Friends of the Cedar Creek Grist Mill was formed in 1980 to restore the historic mill. The deteriorating additions were removed and the flume was extended 650 feet up Cedar Creek so the mill could operate without a dam. The mill returned to operation, milling flour on November 11, 1989, as part of the Washington State Centennial, and became a museum. In 2002, the cedar shake mill and blacksmith shop were rebuilt.

My dad, Cliff West, took these pictures in May 2007.