Alton and Rachel Hallowell House, Edmunds, Maine
Photograph
The home of Alton and Rachel Hallowell. Alton started a saw mill business here in 1946. He was a marine engineer who returned to his native town to establish a business which would provide lumber for private individuals as well as for the many sardine canneries in coastal towns which were in need of a steady supply. The sawmill has been torn down and the property is now owned by their grandson, Donald Hallowell.
The Alton Hallowell house is of nineteenth century construction. His sawmill was located behind the house. R.W. Hobart writes in her history of Dennysville and Edmunds: "It was opened in 1946 by Alton Hallowell, a marine engineer who returned to his native town to establish a business which would provide lumber to private individuals as well as for the many canneries which were in need of a steady supply. At the time of the mill's peak production, during the 1950's, eight men were employed there, and 6,000 to 8,000 board feet were sawed daily. The gradual closing of the canning factories, and the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency, precipitated the closing of the mill in the 1980s.