Logging in Nanaimo

The Hudson Bay Company operated a sawmill near Nanaimo, which provided lumber for the area from the 1850s to 1905. Other sawmills began operations after the Hudson Bay sawmill shut down. Coal miners who often found themselves out of work as the demand for coal declined transitioned to industrial logging. Many men and women worked in logging, sawmill operations, log hauling ever since. Recently, this industry, too has been in decline but successful companies still operate.

By many measures, logging is one of the most dangerous occupations in Canada. The equipment is dangerous; the massive weights of trees overshadows workers all day long; the momentum of falling, sliding, or rolling logs is irresistible; the uneven or unstable terrain and often inclement weather increase the dangers; and the isolated locations of work sites are far away from medical care. At least two known ancestors died as a result of logging-related injuries.

Clearing a dense forest; photograph courtesy of the Bamberton
Historical Society

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"Clearing a Dense Forest," Bamberton Historical Society