In this 1936 historical photo Camp 7 at Great Central Lake Sawmill, L. Hutchinson kicks back on a bunk inside the bunkhouse. All seems calm at the moment the photo was captured. However, the sawmill was anything but calm two years earlier.

Great Central Lake Sawmill was the largest of three that were built in a short period of time, as written in Jan Peterson's ' Twin Cities: Alberni-Port Alberni '. It was also the end point for what became known as 'The Great Trek,' in 1934, when striking loggers walked from Parksville to Great Central Lake Sawmill calling for better wages, better working conditions and a union.

To view more than 24,000 historical Port Alberni photos, visit the Alberni Valley Museum’s online photo archives at portalberni.pastperfectonline.com. (PHOTO PN03708 COURTESY

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