White River Lighthouse

The western edge of the stateof Michigan was a lush, densely wooded area in the early 1800s. The land was covered by a massive forest of pine and hemlock, and lesser numbers of hardwood trees such as maple and oak. In 1838, Charles Mears built the first sawmill on White Lake, approximately six miles east of the old White Lake Channel to Lake Michigan. This mill used water power cut logs into high grade pine planking. Charles built several mills in the area in the following years, some of which also produced wooden shingles.