Extra Credit is video series that examines topics related to history in the Thunder Bay District and exploring that history.
The Pigeon River Lumber Company operated in what is now the city of Thunder Bay from 1900 until the late 1920s. It had a profound impact on the industrial development of the area and was the largest local employer until the opening op the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company in 1911. The company built a large sawmill on the waterfront and harvested logs from several areas, most notably the Pigeon River area which forms the border between Ontario and Minnesota. They also had a sizable operation on the Minnesota side of Gunflint Lake, hauling the logs to Port Arthur via their own rail line, the Gunflint and Lake Superior, as well as the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension (former Port Arthur, Duluth and Western or Pee Dee Railway). This episode, the first of several, tells about the formation of the company and its impact on local history.
Enjoy!
Poverty, Agony, Distress & Want! 