10/28/2025
The Co-op wall mural on Park Street displays a portal into Boyne City’s heyday as the Railroad and Lumber Capital of Northwest Michigan. Since its founding in 1893, the railroad was a lifeline that turned Boyne City into a boomtown of wood-based mills and factories. When the forests of Charlevoix County were depleted, timber was freighted in from the far away counties of Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, and Alpena thanks to the investment by the three White brothers ─ William, Thomas, and James. On Dec. 20, 1918, the BCG&A Railroad had reached Alpena on Lake Huron.
The BCG&A operated 90 miles (140 km) of main line track and 3 branch lines. The railroad’s roster included over 300 Russel Logging Cars, 13 locomotives, 4 passenger cars and 1 interurban gasoline passenger car.
During the lumber era the W.H. White Company had 5 sawmills in Boyne City with a combined capacity of 200,000 board feet (470 m3) of lumber. In addition they had part
ownership in three other factories – Boyne City Lumber Co., Elm Cooperage, and B.C. Chemical Company. In addition W.H. White recruited William S. Shaw to set up a tannery and establish the Charcoal Iron Co. in Boyne. All factories required a daily source of hardwood timber or hemlock tree bark that were dependent on the BCG&A Railroad.
