The
Life of a Shingle Mill Bolt Cutter
A bolt cutter worked long hours, but he
was able to go home to his family at the end of the day.
If
a bolt cutter worked for the Jerns Shingle Mill, he could live in the community
of Silver Beach.
He might want to
stay in the hotel, or build a home at Silver Beach. Silver Beach offered a
store, a post office, and transportation.
If a bolt cutter
wanted to live in the town of New Whatcom, he could take the electric streetcar
(trolley) early in the morning from New Whatcom to Silver Beach, and return
home at the end of the day.
A bolt cutter could live at the upper end of
the lake, at Blue Canyon or Park. There were three steamboats running between
Silver Beach and Park, at the opposite end of the lake, every day.
Photo of Jerns
Shingle Mill is courtesy of Tom Jerns, grandson of Nicholas Jerns, owner of the
mill.
Other photos on this
page are courtesy of the Galen Biery Collection and the
Whatcom Museum of History and Art. (exits project site)