Wiseman's Mill

Logging and sawmilling were key industries in the early days of Clarenville and Shoal Harbour.

Four brothers, Gordon, George, Ernest and Alison Wiseman, operated a sawmill on the shore of Shoal Harbour near where the causeway exists today. The mill ran between 1918 and 1949. Prior to that time period, the brothers operated a mill about 10 kilometres up the Shoal Harbour River at a location that was locally known as “Tucks”.

From 1918 to 1940, the mill was steam powered then converted to gasoline operation. The 1918 engine now on display at the site was a used one the Wisemans purchased for their mill.

Wiseman’s Mill supplied lumber in 1946 for the construction of the wooden vessels known as the “Splinter Fleet” that were built at the shipyard in Clarenville. The last shipment from the mill was for butter boxes supplied to Purity Factories in St. John’s and valued at $90.