Big Lake Valley (Images of America)

Big Lake Valley (Images of America)

A beautiful lake surrounded by virgin timber was enough for Dr. Hyacinthe P. Montborne to homestead here in 1884. He set up a shingle mill at Montborne in 1887, at the same time Hugh Walker was setting up a shingle mill in Walker Valley. With the establishment of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad along the shoreline of Big Lake, the valley began to boom. The Day Lumber Company at Big Lake and the Nelson Neal Lumber Company at Montborne each established lumber mills. Their operations were far-reaching into the vast timberlands. With families homesteading near and far, the Finn Settlement, Ehrlich, Big Lake, Big Rock, and Baker Heights joined Walker Valley and the town of Montborne as communities. The mills are now gone, but the communities in the Big Lake Valley have survived, and generations of families, both old and new, continue to call it home. The Big Lake Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the history of the Big Lake Valley. Members have researched and gathered information from early resident historians and local archives to take the reader on a visual and historical journey of the Big Lake Valley, thus preserving its history forever.