The Aldridge Sawmill was first
constructed by Hal Aldridge in 1905. The original mill was of wooden
construction, and the equipment both for the construction and for the
actual mill operations was brought into the site by ox cart. In 1906,
the Burr's Ferry, Browndel & Chester Railway built a spur into the mill,
and a town grew up around the mill. By 1911, there were 76 buildings at
Aldridge including houses, a warehouse, hotel, company store, and
company offices. Later that year, the wooden mill structure burned down
and a new mill was constructed using hand- poured concrete. The new mill
with its updated equipment produced 125,000 board feet of lumber per
day. In 1918, the mill was sold to Kirby Lumber Company who continued to
run it on a limited basis until 1923 when it was finally closed. The
last of the township itself was abandoned in 1927, and the site was
subsequently acquired by the U.S. Forest Service in 1935. |