dates in the development of the lumber industry in the Hearst region
– The first sawmills in the Hearst region become operational.
– The Doucet, Huard (Jogues), Poliquin (Hallébourg) and Dupuis (Mattice)
sawmills are in place and functioning.
– Noé Fontaine resides in Mattice
where he operates a sawmill and a planer.
– Noé Fontaine obtains logging rights
in the Hanlan Township and establishes a sawmill near Wolverine Lake (a
location now known as Passe-à-Fontaine).
– Adélard Haman and Arthur Lecours
obtain logging rights in the Stoddart Township; they both establish sawmills
near Carey Lake.
– Noé Fontaine moves his planer from
Mattice to Hearst and builds sawmills near the Kabina River and at Lac
– Fred Lecours (Arthur’s brother) establishes
a sawmill at Angelina Lake. The mill is moved to Calstock in 1951.
– Ernest Gosselin purchases Arthur Lecours’
Carey Lake sawmill and builds another mill in Calstock.
– Following Noé Fontaine’s death, his son Zacharie takes charge
of the Fontaine Lumber company.
– J. D. Levesque buys Raoul Létourneau’s
Hearst planer in 1947 and Willie Létourneau's Kabina River sawmill.
– Henry Selin establishes his sawmill at Nassau
Lake and harvests timber on territory belonging to Transcontinental Timber.
– J. D. Levesque builds the Ritchie Lake
sawmill, north of Hearst. His sons Réal and Yvon take charge of
the Kabina River mill.
– The Fontaine sawmill at Lac Sainte.Thérèse
ceases all activities.
– Three of Arthur Lecours’ sons, François, Paul and Jules, purchase
their uncle Fred’s Calstock mill. They create F.
P. & J. Lecours Co. Ltd.
– René Fontaine buys out his father
Zacharie’s Fontaine's Landing mill and moves it north of Calstock. He operates
there under the name Polar Lumber.
– The Levesque Plywood factory begins production
with roughly 50 employees. The company belongs to Yvon and Hervé
– A forty-day long strike precedes the signature of the first bargaining
agreement between the newly unionized Henry Selin
Forest Products workers and their employer.
– J. D. Levesque inaugurates a new electricity-powered
sawmill in Hearst, which can produce wood chips. The steam-powered Kabina
River and Ritchie sawmills are closed.
– René Fontaine opens his new Hearst
sawmill. His father, Zacharie, dies the same year.
– The Levesque Plywood factory is destroyed
by fire. It is rebuilt and production picks up again the following year.
– Henry Selin Forest Products experiences financial
difficulties and is sold to Moses Helper of Toronto.
- Réal Levesque, owner of Hearst Transport and Lumber, buys Mattice
– The Henry Selin Forest Products company is
shut down permanently.
– Levesque Plywood inaugurates a presswood
board factory. These boards are made of sawdust and other residues produced
– Employees of several sawmills and factories are represented by the Lumber
and Sawmills Workers’ Union, local 2995.
– A majority of sawmills install dry kilns for their lumber.
– Newaygo Timber, an American company, inaugurates a modern sawmill in
Mead worth an estimated $5 million.
– Levesque Lumber buys out Spruce Dale Lumber
from the Christianson family of Mattice.
– Levesque Lumber builds a new, more modern
sawmill in Hearst.
– United Sawmill partner companies unite
to operate under one single name.
– Lecours Lumber Co. Ltd. buys out Gosselin
– The Newaygo sawmill is permanently shut down.
– The Hearst Forest Management Agreement is signed by Lecours
Lumber Co. Ltd. and United Sawmill. The
new enterprise Hearst Forest Management coordinates the logging and regeneration
of the forest.
– United Sawmill is sold to Malette Inc.
– The Levesque Lumber sawmill is forced to
close down due to financial difficulties.
– Malette Inc. is sold to Tembec Industries Inc. of Abitibi, giving the
last remaining sawmill inside the town of Hearst a new owner.
– Levesque Plywood is sold to Columbia Forest
Products, based in Portland, Oregon.