Station: St. Helen, MI

St. Helen was settled about 1872 by the Henry L. Stevens & Company lumber firm. [MPN]

St. Helen was located on the Michigan Central's Mackinaw Branch in Roscommon County about 12 miles northwest of West Branch.

Image info: The MC depot at St. Helen, in a railroad valuation photo about 1920. [CMUL]

Notes

Time Line

1888. July. At St. Helens, Stephens & Company new circular mill is about completed. It will have a capacity of 50,000 feet daily. A duplicate mill is being erected by the same firm at Waters which will be completed early in the fall. This will give them four good mills for next season's operations. The firm originally composed of Henry Stephens Sr., Henry Stephens Jr., and Albert Stephens, father and two sons, and operated at Fish Lake in Lapeer County. They removed to St. Helens only seven years ago. They own ¾ of all standing pine along the Mackinaw branch of the MC, and cut over 50 million feet of lumber annually at their mills, besides lath, etc. They operate logging railroads at St. Helens and Waters, and lumber the year round. Henry Stephens Sr. died in California three years ago, and the immense business now devolves on Albert and Henry Jr. The firm employs nearly 1,000 men. They have six years supply of timber yet on hand, and when that is gone have over 400 million feet in Upper Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota to fall back upon. [SWC-1888-0705]

1891. A misplaced switch did terrible execution in St. Helens. A logging train struck the switch and dashed into the round house, killing John A. Schultz of Saginaw, and fatally injuring John Rice and Link French. The roundhouse was wrecked. [CCA-1891-0219]

1917. The MC had a agent/operator here during the day shift. [TRT]

Industry

• H. Stephens & Company - lumber mills (xxxx-1884-xxxx )