A Trip Back in Time at the McLean Mill National Historic Site, Port Alberni, BC.

A 2 1/2 hour drive will take you to one of Vancouver Island most interesting historical sites, the McLean Mill. What makes the McLean Mill such a unique heritage treasure is that much of the original machinery and buildings have survived making it a rare example of a sawmill complex from the early days of mechanized logging on the west coast. Even more remarkable is that the sawmill has been restored to full working condition, the millpond and dam have been reconstructed and the companies original steam donkey is also operating along with a fully rigged ‘spar tree’ for pulling in cut logs and loading onto trucks. You can see how an early 2oth century logging and milling operation actually worked!

The McLean Mill Port Alberni

Maclean Mill Steam Donkey & Spar Tree

The History

The story of the mill begins with Robert Bartlett McLean. In 1925, he, his wife Cora, and their three sons purchased land and timber rights in the Beaver Creek district. Unlike the massive corporate mills situated right on the inlet, the McLeans built their operation inland, relying on a railway spur and a mill pond to move logs .

Walking through the site today, you can still see the deliberate zoning of a self-contained community. There’s the main sawmill and power house at the northwest, the cluster of residences and administrative buildings to the south, and the logging operations—garages, sheds, and log dumps—grouped to the east . It wasn’t just a workplace; for the families who ran it, it was a remote camp on the edge of the wilderness.

The McLean Mill Office

The gas & oil shed

Original old vehicles in the mill garage

1929 Ross Lumber Carrier

Interesting wrecks of old vechicles can be seen around the property

The Heart of the Site: The Steam Sawmill

The centerpiece of any visit is the mill building itself. What makes McLean Mill so significant is that it contains a fully operational steam-powered sawmill. While it may be smaller in scale than the giant coastal mills, it retains the classic elements: the log haul, the jack ladder, and the massive double circular saws .

A visit here is a sensory experience. If you’re lucky enough to catch a demonstration day, the smell of hot oil and sawdust mixes with the sharp, rhythmic whine of the head rig. The main steam engine, built by Wheland Machine Works around 1890, still powers the overhead drive shafts and belts that run the machinery . Beneath the mill floor, you can peer at the oldest piece of equipment on site—an 1880s steam engine originally used for a ship’s winch, later repurposed to drive the log carriage.

Maclean Mill steam engine

The Steam Mill in operation

The Planer – the planer was originally was powered by an old steam tractor

Riding the Rails

The old railway lines to the mill are still in place and at one time you could take a ride on a train pulled by a completely restored 1929 Baldwin ex-logging steam locomotive which left from the 1912 CPR Train Station in downtown Port Alberni. See our post Alberni Pacific Steam Train. The 35 minute ride to the McLean Mill National Historic Site winds through the City of Port Alberni and the surrounding forests.