hi thanks for joining today we're exploring the abandoned headquarters
mill near courtenay british columbia let's go check it out
just after the turn of the century in the early 1900s british columbia experienced a
timber rush when the government began granting timber licenses to syndicates and individuals
around that time the largest logging company in the british empire was the canadian western
lumber company its subsidiary the comox logging and railway company
began harvesting logs on vancouver island and sending them to fraser mills near coquitlam
on the mainland a network of railway tracks began to spring up to help with movement of the lumber
and a permanent hub was established on the banks of the tsolum river near courtenay
british columbia initially known as fraserville and later known as headquarters this site was
meant to accommodate housing for staff of loggers rail engineers laborers and management working
in the area and it served as the main base of logging in comox between 1911 and the late 1950s
at one time surrounding this abandoned mill you would have seen a small community that
included its store post office blacksmith hotel dance hall and about 20 company homes
the headquarters sawmill was built around 1912 by general alexander duncan mcrae one of the
principals of the canadian western logging company this large new sawmill sat just outside town
with concrete walls towering into the air and windows to let natural light in
the roof of the mill would have been a solid wood roof supported by huge beams
however like many of the other logging operations work at headquarters was shut
down at the outbreak of the war and the mill actually never ended up cutting a single board
the mill was later abandoned probably due to the recession but it's also rumored that
the company had only ever built it to gain concessions from the provincial government
around that time parts of the mill were removed and later used to build a mill in courtenay
the mill powerhouse had five diesel engines that were used to
generate electricity for the town of headquarters
but these were destroyed in 1921 when a great fire consumed the town and the surrounding forests
after the fire nature reclaimed the areas around the mill structure
and today only the concrete foundations remain
despite this the town of headquarters ended up surviving until late 1950s but at that time any
of the remaining buildings including the school and the company houses were sold for a dollar
apiece but required an agreement that they would be moved off of the company property the land in
the area has been reclaimed and is currently designated the headquarters town site park
but the only hint of this once hopeful company town is this looming abandoned
concrete structure which has been relegated to a mild point of interest for passersby
but unfortunately it seems like its main purpose is now to be
a larger than life canvas for graffiti artists
thanks for checking out the abandoned headquarters mill with us