Mileposts #1131 – John Dexter Mills

By Bill Pumford, Image from the ROWHS Collection

The Dexter family was well known in Strawberry Flat (later Twin Peaks) during the 1900s. The Dexter boys, George – born 1872, John – born 1892, and Greg – born 1898, and their wives were very influential citizens in the San Bernardino mountains. John and Greg from an early age assisted their considerably older brother George in construction projects primarily in Strawberry Flat area to include the cabins at Squirrel Inn. George continued a variety of related jobs until his death in 1923 and Greg, with his wife Julia, built Alpine Terrace (later the Antler’s Inn) and all the rental cabins. John went into lumbering and had begun his own mill in 1924 which was located on what is Highway 189 today near Alpine Terrace. This week’s image shows a photo of John Dexter’s mill in Twin Peaks from the Russ Keller archives. A fire in 1930 completely destroyed the Dexter mill and caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damage to mill structures and equipment. The Dexter home was threatened but fire fighter efforts saved the home and additional nearby structures. A new mill was constructed off Grandview Avenue. In 1946 Lois Dexter, daughter of John Dexter, married Truman Woodworth. Within a couple of years Truman was running day-to-day operations while his father-in-law supervised the cutting of the trees. At this time approximately 1,000,000 board feet of lumber was being cut annually. Logs up to 54 inches could be cut with 16-foot lengths being a standard cut. Sixteen men were employed at the cutting and planning mills. By 1957 the mill was known as the Truman Woodworth Mill and employed thirty men. A fair portion of the work now involved salvage work which was supervised by the Forest Service and intended to rid the National Forests of burned, fallen, or diseased trees. John Dexter, after a productive life in the mountains, died in 1977.

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