Isackson's Sawmill

In 1936, Henry opened his own sawmill, called, appropriately enough, Isackson's Mill. (Lorraine's younger brother Duane was still running the mill in 2002, and is still using the original planer which is described below.) Business expanded rapidly, particularly after America entered the Second World War late in 1941. The larger commercial mills in Seattle became tied up with the war effort, and people needed the smaller area mills to get timber to build homes and other local structures. In addition, the sawdust produced by milling and planing the logs was often used by locals to heat their homes–coal was dirty and expensive, and oil was hard to obtain during the Second World War.

As business increased at Isackson's Mill, Henry hired a second employee, Vernon Mills, who would become Lorraine's husband in 1943. Together Henry and Vern planed and edged much of the timber that you see in many of the buildings in the Redmond and Fall City area today. Lorraine said her father had one of the largest planers in this area. A planer was used to smooth and plane the logs into boards. The planer could also be used as an edger (to cut grooves into the boards). Lorraine said Henry got the planer from the Monohan Mill after the mill–but, luckily, not the planer–was destroyed by fire in 1925.