Fonds - Oliver Sawmills Ltd. fonds

In 1925 the sawmill, owned by the government, was bought by Harry Fairweather. With the help of his brother Lloyd Fairweather, Harry re-located the sawmill from its original location at Camp McKinney to the edge of Okanagan River, just off Sawmill Road. The area is now known as Oliver's Industrial Park. The new mill, known as Fairweather Lumber Company, was operated solely by Harry Fairweather until 1929, when Harold Wright and three other shareholders invested in the business. Mr. Fairweather retained a majority and was president of the new Oliver Sawmills Ltd until his death in 1957. In addition to the logging operations which extended from Brookmere through Coalmont, Princeton and the Kettle Valley, the Company operated Forest Management Licence No. 15 in the vicinity of Oliver. Seven railway spurs and log flats supplied the Mill with sixty per cent of its log requirements; the balance came in by truck. Soon after its formation, the new Oliver Sawmills Ltd began to diversify with the construction of the Box Factory. A seasonal operation, the factory provided pre-made box pieces to packing houses for the storage of apples, cantaloupe, peaches, and other fruits. After cutting and packaging sides, bottoms, ends and tops, the box pieces were shipped by truck to various packing houses in Keremeos, Osoyoos, Kaleden and Penticton. Over the first five years operations in the Box Factory increased considerably. During the war most of its time was devoted to making ammunition boxes which were sent overseas to Great Britain. In 1955, Fairweather Lumber Company employed 80 in its saw and planing mills and 26 in the logging operation, in addition to those working in the Box Factory's seasonal operation which produced up to one and a quarter million boxes a year. The annual payroll was over one half million dollars. Organized under their own scheme and registered as "The Oliver Sawmills Employees Association", the employees enjoyed a full and generous pension plan, non-occupational sick benefits and life insurance. Ninety per cent of the employees had their own homes. For those who didn't, the Company built a row of twelve cottages which were available at nominal rental fees. In 1957 the sawmill was sold to National Forest Products, a holding company in Penticton, which subsequently sold it to Northwood Mills in 1962. A vital part of Oliver's business community ended when the entire sawmill closed and was dismantled in 1967.