The society acquired an American Sawmill #1 from the estate of the late Harold VanCampen. For a few years it sat covered by a tarp behind the coopers shop waiting for the day when it could be installed in a structure of its own. In the fall of 2002, the construction started on the foundations for the machinery. In late fall 2002, the saw mill was moved on to the foundation piers and work started on the beams. John Tauke is in charge of the project. Technical assistance dealing with the operation of the machinery has been provided by Jeff Cyphers who operates one of these mills and is also involved with the mill at Jacktown.

On 5/29/2004 at the appointed hour of 10:00 AM the bents of the sawmill started to rise up into the air. Numerous volunteers from the society aided by Marcus Brandt and his crew of timberframers were on hand to guide the heavy timbers into their proper alignment. The event was well publicized in the local press and throughout the day there were numerous visitors to view the raising.  Ladies from the society were manning the volunteer sign up table as well as the "soup kitchen" in the Garris House. By noon you could recognize a building and by quitting time, one half of the tin roofing was up.  The raising was a success. Work remaining on the structure consists of completion of the roof, and installation of the siding. 

Work continued on the siding of the sawmill over the remainder of the summer and fall. By the first week of November 2004 all of the siding work was completed. Siding was a tedious process on this building as 90% had to be done off a ladder with measurements and cut outs for the joists. November 19, 2004 was spent cleaning up all the scraps that had gathered over the 5 month construction period. By 2:00 pm of 11/19/2004 it was in the condition shown at the top of the page.