Manistee Log Marks
Image credits to the Minnesota Historical Society
Timeless. Tireless.
Manistee Log Marks Ltd. is a throwback, created to provide a modern look at a vital era in American history. Our goal is to celebrate the form and function of log marks, and to help tell the stories of the companies and men who used them.
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The history
of log marks
The Great Northern Pine Harvest provided the capital and building material to build great towns and cities surrounding the Great Lakes. None of that would have been possible without the use of log marks.
From the 1840's until the early 1900’s, billions of board feet of pine logs were cut from Northern forests by thousands of timber companies. They were transported to hundreds of mills on great rivers, sorted by the mark stamped on them before they were sent downstream.
Log marks were recognized by law and created order in an industry that demanded great hardship and exhaustive effort. The work in the woods lasted all winter, for six months lumbermen stayed wet from sweat and snow. They started before sunrise and finished after dark, all for a dollar a day.
the bandana
Our first product line, Manistee Log Marks bandanas, incorporates actual log mark designs from this era. It’s a time when earnest men worked with their hands and strong backs to build something lasting.
