Largest White Pine Sawmill in the World

The chosen mill site was located about ten miles upstream from Palouse, and William A. Wilkinson was hired to supervise construction. He presented a proposal for a $300,000 manufacturing facility at the director's meeting of February 1905 and it was approved.

T.P. Jones and his crew became Potlatch's first residents. With logs felled at the site and cut at Palouse, they built a bunkhouse, boardinghouse, community kitchen, small office, barbershop, and store. These buildings would be temporary.

The Palouse sawmill produced lumber for the new mill's construction. Another Potlatch crew worked on construction of the WI&M. The work force expanded to 250 by December 1905. Sawmill construction began early in the fall of 1905, and by late December workers had completed the basic structure. The entire millsite covered over 200 acres, with dozens of buildings. Wood construction predominated, however, some buildings were steel-framed and others were made of brick. Less than eighteen months after its start, a major industrial complex stood ready for operation. The Potlatch mill was touted as the world's largest white pine sawmill.

The mill started for its first test run on September 3, 1906. On Saturday, September 8 the first log rolled into the mill. On September 11, with all testing completed, the Potlatch Lumber Company presented its new factory to the world.