Holmes Sawmill History

Alan Holmes grew up on a centennial farm, right next door, as the middle child of 12. He discovered a knack for difficult repairs and fabrication, that proved useful on the family farm where he would often be found working on some piece of equipment. 

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In 1983 a dear friend, named Leonard Bittner, stopped by and wanted to teach Alan how to run his Sawmill. 1 year later, Leonard and Alan began moving his Sawmill to our current location, and fabricating some new updates. Alan purchased the sawmill from Leonard in 1984. For nearly a decade, the sawmill was driven off the PTO of a tractor. As more jobs were coming in, he soon needed to expand the operation. In 1989 Alan began building an automated sawmill that ran off 3- phase electricity and was completed in 1991.

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 In 1992, another good friend Aljer Langworthy, a logger who cut cedar,  proposed a business plan where they would go into business together making White Cedar tongue and groove. Aljer would cut the logs and Alan would machine it.  Alan agreed to work for Aljer for free for one year, and then the business would be his when Aljer passed.  

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Alan bought old commercial molders and planers, which we still run, and continued expanding. Today, we deal with several local and national sawmills to keep up with demand.  These days, Alan can still be found running the Sawmill, in between loading bunks of lumber. He still enjoys bringing new life to old equipment. His very limited spare time is spent rebuilding and restoring antique tractors and cars, many of which he still uses around the farm.  The sawmill is now run by Alan and his youngest son Andrew.