The Old Sawmill. - The Uki Timber Company

The Mill That Got Stuck

In 1909, Lou Parker purchased a sawmill from a firm on the Richmond for £48. The mill was transported by boat to Murwillumbah, barged up Dunbible Creek, and then loaded onto a bullock dray for the journey through Stokers Siding and Smiths Creek to Uki.

The sawmill had actually been destined for Terragon, but when the bullock team reached this site, the wagon carrying the heavy steam engines became hopelessly bogged. After numerous failed attempts to move it, the owner decided: "This is where the mill will be!"

The sawmill became a central part of Uki's economy. When hauling logs up "Saw Mill Hill," workers would roll logs from wagons and nudge them down to the mill below. The mill operated until 1926 when it was dismantled and sold by public auction.

Nellie's Memory of Early Uki

Nellie O'Sullivan's father, George Johnson, helped Lou Parker bring the sawmill to Uki. George was a "tailer-out"—the man who stood behind the logs as they pushed through the circular saws—the highest-paid position at the mill.

Nellie recalled their humble beginnings:

"When we first came to Uki, we lived in a tent on the left-hand side going into Uki, just over the bridge, on the river bank there. In a tent! Our bed was sticks in the ground with corn or chaff bags on other sticks sitting on these prongs. I can remember a flood came up, and Dad carried me. They woke me up, and he said, 'Come on, dear, you've got to get out; the water's coming in your bed.' I looked, and it was right up to my bed. He carried me chest-high through water up to the road."

Lover's Lane

The mill site had a romantic side too! Courting couples would meet at the mill and spend time sitting together on the logs. Ella Mitchell recalled:

"You know I can't recall this timber leaving this mill, and yet I can remember Lionel and I had our name in the Tweed Call, a naughty little paper written here. We had our name on it for doing a bit of courting on one of the Mill logs."