Tom’s Logging Camp pays tribute to the lumberjacks of old

By Dave Anderson
Northern News Now
May 6, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US East

DULUTH TOWNSHIP, Minnesota — By the 1880′s the 19th century lumber barons had clearcut their way from Maine to the Northland. Tom’s Logging Camp on Highway 61 is part tourist trap and tribute to the Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish immigrants who filled the real logging camps of the past century. …A tour of Tom’s Logging Camp starts with a stop at horseshoeing stall. Everything in camp was either people or horse-powered. If the ground was soft, the horses leased for the winter from local farmers wore bog shoes. …After a long day in the cold woods, the loggers found rest in the bunkhouse where rookies got stuck with the bottom bunk. “They got the bottom bunk because it was not warm enough but the bedbugs would fall on you from the top bunk,” said Bill. Top dog in camp at the top of the pay scale was the head cook. He got 60 dollars a month.

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