09/01/2026
Someone asked about the cedar shake on the buildings in Blaney Park.
One of the Historic Blaney Park photos you can see at our IXL General store is of the original Blaney Mill.
The Blaney shingle and tie mill was a prominent logging and wood-processing operation located in Blaney Park, Michigan, a historic town founded in 1902 in the state's Upper Peninsula.The Logging Era mill was established as part of a model lumber town created by William Mueller Jr. to harvest the region’s dense timberlands. It operated as a centralized hub processing raw logs into architectural shingles and railroad ties. The mill's expansive logistics network relied on: The Blaney & Southern Railway: A 7.2-mile dedicated logging railroad built to haul heavy timber directly to the mill and connect with major regional lines like the Soo Line Railroad.
Sleigh Roads: Over 30 miles of dedicated paths carved through the woods to transport logs during the freezing winter months.
Resort Transformation: By the late 1920s, the surrounding timber resources were fully depleted, forcing the mill to cease its original operations. The town was subsequently purchased by the Earle family, owners of the Wisconsin Land & Lumber Company. Rather than letting the site become a ghost town, they transformed the entire 33,000-acre logging camp into a luxury wilderness resort known as Blaney Park Resort.
As part of this massive redevelopment, Bear Creek was dammed to create Lake Ann Louise, and the former lumber camp buildings-including workers' housing and facilities surrounding the old mill—were repurposed into guest cottages, golf courses, and event spaces that thrived through the mid-20th century.
