LARDON & HODGE SAWMILL
Linn County - Albany
February 8, 1938: "Decision to construct a sawmill in Albany immediately was today announced by Lardon & Hodge, for the last four years owners and operators of the Crabtree mill, upon invitation of the Albany Chamber of Commerce.
The invitation and subsequent announcement followed a visit by the chamber of commerce industrial committee to the Lardon & Hodge mill at Crabtree, where the committee was informed of the operators' determination to acquire a larger site.
The announcement was received locally with gratification, and was regarded by the chamber of commerce committee as the forerunner of a series of similar announcements which will realize Albany's long sought dream of additional payrolls.
Paul Lardon, a member of the firm, explained today that the Crabtree plant is no longer adequate for the operators' needs, and that the site there will not permit further expansions. Therefore, he said, a move is necessary if the firm is to develop.
Albany was selected, Mr. Lardon said, because of its rail and highway facilities, the opportunity it offers for local fuel and lumber sales and of the co-operation which the Chamber of Commerce has given since it became known that move was contemplated.
Mr. Lardon returned yesterday from Port Angeles, Wash., with part of a new eight-knife planer which the firm has purchased, and which will be a part of the new Albany mill's equipment.
Lardon & Hodge have not yet definitely acquired a site, but Mr. Lardon said today that several are under consideration, with the likelihood that tract adjacent to and south of the Southern Pacific railway yards and slightly to the east of the depot between Baker and Jackson streets will be selected.
Decision on this site is being withheld pending receipt of definite information as to prospective Southern Pacific track changes at that point incidental to construction of the new overhead crossing of the Pacific highway.
More space is needed, Mr. Lardon said, not only to accommodate a larger plant, but also to permit construction of a pond of such size that logs can be stored as a supply source during the winter months when hauling on softened highways is prohibited.
The new planer is being installed temporarily at the Crabtree mill where it will be employed in production of lumber to be used in building the housing for the Albany mill.
At Albany Lardon & Hodge plan to install a plant of about 30,000 feet daily capacity, working one shift, and employing between 20 and 30 men to a shift, in addition to furnishing employment to from 10 to 12 loggers.
Lardon & Hodge have been operating continuously for the last four years at Crabtree, and are reputedly one of the most substantial lumber manufacturing firms in the county. With the additional advantages of a location here they anticipate still greater success, Mr. Lardon said.
The Albany plant will be powered electrically throughout, Mr. Lardon said today. A 54-inch carriage instead of the 48-inch cattiage now used will be installed here, Mr. Lardon said.
Mr. Hodge formerly resided at Albany, where he was millwright for the Cameron Lumber company. He also was employed in a similar capacity at the Fir Lumber company mill i Lebanon, but since he and Mr. Lardon purchased the Crabtree mill four years ago he has been in full charge of operations.
Mr. Lardon cares for the purchasing and sales phase of the business. His experience in the lumber business is also of long standing. He was connected with several sash and door enterprises at Portland, and with lumber operations at Scio and in Marion county for several years prior to going to Crabtree.
Little or no equipment will be moved here from Crabtree save the new planer. The Crabtree plant will be left in condition to operate, a will be disposed of intact.
Lardon & Hodge are cutting timber through the agency of Ballinger Brothers, loggers, on Crabtree creek just above Island Inn, where they have been purchasing stumpage from the Hammond Lumber company.
The planer will start turning out lumber for the housing as soon as its installation is completed, probably within a few days." (Albany Democrat-Herald)
The invitation and subsequent announcement followed a visit by the chamber of commerce industrial committee to the Lardon & Hodge mill at Crabtree, where the committee was informed of the operators' determination to acquire a larger site.
The announcement was received locally with gratification, and was regarded by the chamber of commerce committee as the forerunner of a series of similar announcements which will realize Albany's long sought dream of additional payrolls.
Paul Lardon, a member of the firm, explained today that the Crabtree plant is no longer adequate for the operators' needs, and that the site there will not permit further expansions. Therefore, he said, a move is necessary if the firm is to develop.
Albany was selected, Mr. Lardon said, because of its rail and highway facilities, the opportunity it offers for local fuel and lumber sales and of the co-operation which the Chamber of Commerce has given since it became known that move was contemplated.
Mr. Lardon returned yesterday from Port Angeles, Wash., with part of a new eight-knife planer which the firm has purchased, and which will be a part of the new Albany mill's equipment.
Lardon & Hodge have not yet definitely acquired a site, but Mr. Lardon said today that several are under consideration, with the likelihood that tract adjacent to and south of the Southern Pacific railway yards and slightly to the east of the depot between Baker and Jackson streets will be selected.
Decision on this site is being withheld pending receipt of definite information as to prospective Southern Pacific track changes at that point incidental to construction of the new overhead crossing of the Pacific highway.
More space is needed, Mr. Lardon said, not only to accommodate a larger plant, but also to permit construction of a pond of such size that logs can be stored as a supply source during the winter months when hauling on softened highways is prohibited.
The new planer is being installed temporarily at the Crabtree mill where it will be employed in production of lumber to be used in building the housing for the Albany mill.
At Albany Lardon & Hodge plan to install a plant of about 30,000 feet daily capacity, working one shift, and employing between 20 and 30 men to a shift, in addition to furnishing employment to from 10 to 12 loggers.
Lardon & Hodge have been operating continuously for the last four years at Crabtree, and are reputedly one of the most substantial lumber manufacturing firms in the county. With the additional advantages of a location here they anticipate still greater success, Mr. Lardon said.
The Albany plant will be powered electrically throughout, Mr. Lardon said today. A 54-inch carriage instead of the 48-inch cattiage now used will be installed here, Mr. Lardon said.
Mr. Hodge formerly resided at Albany, where he was millwright for the Cameron Lumber company. He also was employed in a similar capacity at the Fir Lumber company mill i Lebanon, but since he and Mr. Lardon purchased the Crabtree mill four years ago he has been in full charge of operations.
Mr. Lardon cares for the purchasing and sales phase of the business. His experience in the lumber business is also of long standing. He was connected with several sash and door enterprises at Portland, and with lumber operations at Scio and in Marion county for several years prior to going to Crabtree.
Little or no equipment will be moved here from Crabtree save the new planer. The Crabtree plant will be left in condition to operate, a will be disposed of intact.
Lardon & Hodge are cutting timber through the agency of Ballinger Brothers, loggers, on Crabtree creek just above Island Inn, where they have been purchasing stumpage from the Hammond Lumber company.
The planer will start turning out lumber for the housing as soon as its installation is completed, probably within a few days." (Albany Democrat-Herald)
November 12, 1938: "Machinery is being installed in the Lardon & Hodge sawmill, for which the main building has been practically completed on its site, along the southern edge of the Southern Pacific railroad yards just east of the old Linn county fair grounds road.
Likewise the 850-foot spur which will serve this mill is nearing completion. The planer shed will be erected immediately, but the planer will not be moved from Crabtree, present scene of the Lardon & Hodge operations, until the sawmill proper here is ready to operate.
This mill is designed for a capacity of 30,000 feet a day, but the carriage now being installed has been operated in a plant which has turned out more than twice that much.
It is the plan of the operators to excavate a ground level pond next spring, but meanwhile they will operate with a 'dry pond,' moving the logs after they are dumped upon the ground, by means of a tractor.
The buildings are sided with planed lumber, which will be painted.
Paul Lardon and Charles Hodge, the operators, both plan to reside in Albany as soon as they have completed installation of their plant here. They have designed their mill, they explained, with the expectation that it will make a creditable appearance and become an asset to the community both from the economic and aesthetic viewpoints.
The present mill at Crabtree is cutting the lumber for the Albany plant. When this work has been completed and the planer, newly purchased by Lardon & Hodge, has been moved into Albany, the Crabtree plant will be placed upon the market, Mr. Lardon and Mr. Hodge said." (Albany Democrat-Herald)
Likewise the 850-foot spur which will serve this mill is nearing completion. The planer shed will be erected immediately, but the planer will not be moved from Crabtree, present scene of the Lardon & Hodge operations, until the sawmill proper here is ready to operate.
This mill is designed for a capacity of 30,000 feet a day, but the carriage now being installed has been operated in a plant which has turned out more than twice that much.
It is the plan of the operators to excavate a ground level pond next spring, but meanwhile they will operate with a 'dry pond,' moving the logs after they are dumped upon the ground, by means of a tractor.
The buildings are sided with planed lumber, which will be painted.
Paul Lardon and Charles Hodge, the operators, both plan to reside in Albany as soon as they have completed installation of their plant here. They have designed their mill, they explained, with the expectation that it will make a creditable appearance and become an asset to the community both from the economic and aesthetic viewpoints.
The present mill at Crabtree is cutting the lumber for the Albany plant. When this work has been completed and the planer, newly purchased by Lardon & Hodge, has been moved into Albany, the Crabtree plant will be placed upon the market, Mr. Lardon and Mr. Hodge said." (Albany Democrat-Herald)
March 10, 1939: "Cutting of lumber was started this week at the Lardon & Hodge sawmill just south of the Southern Pacific depot, inaugurating a new and apparently substantial increase in Albany's pay rolls. In fact the construction of the mill itself has involved expenditures running as high as $1000 a month in pay-rolls.
This enterprise becomes not only a new industry for Albany, but for the county, inasmuch as the Crabtree plant formerly owned by Lardon & Hodge will continue in operation under new ownership.
The Lardon & Hodge mill is the largest sawmill in Albany with a possible output capacity of 75,000 feet per shift and the largest plant of the kind to operate here since the Albany Lumber company mill was discontinued many years ago.
The Lardon & Hodge mill is under slow speed at present, while adjustments in the machinery and belting are under way, but it will be ready for full operation within a few days.
This new Albany industry represents in completed form an investment of more than $20,000.
The proprietors said yesterday that they have constructed a much larger plant, equipped with far more machinery than they had originally intended to install here, but they expressed confidence that improvement in the lumber market and that strategic advantages offered by Albany will justify this larger investment,
The new mill is electrically powered throughout.
The power equipment includes a 150 horsepower saw motor; a 100 horsepower edger motor. 5 horsepower motors on the log roll, carriage and green chain and a 25 hp cut-off motor, representing a total of 290 horse power in the plant.
For the time being Lardon & Hodge will operate from a 'dry pond,' dumping their logs on the ground, but later a large pond is planned, through cooperation of the state highway commission, which will make the excavated dirt and gravel part of the fill on the new Pacific highway relocation project.
The mill's water supply is derived from three wells, which Mr. Lardon said yesterday will be more than adequate.
The company has contracted with the Cummins Transfer & Fuel Co. for disposal of all of its fuel by-products, including sawdust, planer shavings, mill blocks and slabwood.
Conveyors and bins have been constructed for these by-products, and the slabwood and sawdust conveyors are now in operation." (Albany Democrat-Herald)
This enterprise becomes not only a new industry for Albany, but for the county, inasmuch as the Crabtree plant formerly owned by Lardon & Hodge will continue in operation under new ownership.
The Lardon & Hodge mill is the largest sawmill in Albany with a possible output capacity of 75,000 feet per shift and the largest plant of the kind to operate here since the Albany Lumber company mill was discontinued many years ago.
The Lardon & Hodge mill is under slow speed at present, while adjustments in the machinery and belting are under way, but it will be ready for full operation within a few days.
This new Albany industry represents in completed form an investment of more than $20,000.
The proprietors said yesterday that they have constructed a much larger plant, equipped with far more machinery than they had originally intended to install here, but they expressed confidence that improvement in the lumber market and that strategic advantages offered by Albany will justify this larger investment,
The new mill is electrically powered throughout.
The power equipment includes a 150 horsepower saw motor; a 100 horsepower edger motor. 5 horsepower motors on the log roll, carriage and green chain and a 25 hp cut-off motor, representing a total of 290 horse power in the plant.
For the time being Lardon & Hodge will operate from a 'dry pond,' dumping their logs on the ground, but later a large pond is planned, through cooperation of the state highway commission, which will make the excavated dirt and gravel part of the fill on the new Pacific highway relocation project.
The mill's water supply is derived from three wells, which Mr. Lardon said yesterday will be more than adequate.
The company has contracted with the Cummins Transfer & Fuel Co. for disposal of all of its fuel by-products, including sawdust, planer shavings, mill blocks and slabwood.
Conveyors and bins have been constructed for these by-products, and the slabwood and sawdust conveyors are now in operation." (Albany Democrat-Herald)