The L.D.R. Sawmill and it’s community known as “Irving” was located upriver from what is now known as the old Fortson Mill site, about 1/4 of a mile east of the Swede Heaven Road railroad crossing, now the Whitehorse Trail.  The closest post office for Irving was located at the community of Pueblo, located near the Swede Heaven Road crossing, southeast of the North Fork Stillaguamish Bridge.

The mill was named L.D.R. after the three partner’s last names, Royal Lamson Sr., Lee Dickinson, and Stanley Ritchie. Lamson also ran a good size logging camp known as BARCO, east of the L.D.R. Sawmill.  Later his son, Royal Lamson Jr. will build a mill there.  Dickinson ran the Fortson Shingle Mill, incorporating with Lamson, just west of the Fortson Mill, on Little French Creek, where his home was.

The L.D.R. Sawmill was located along the Whitehorse Trail, at the Moose Creek Bridge crossing, to the southeast.  This is private land now.  Moose Creek was dammed to create a large shallow millpond.  You can still see remnants of this dam today from the bridge.

Down river to the east on the N.F. Stillaguamish River, was the McCaughey and McCaughey Sawmill, established in 1905, which is now called Fortson.  George Hayley Fortson purchased the McCaughey and McCaughey Mill in 1904, incorporating with Lee Dickinson and Royal Lamson, McCaugheys moved their operations to the L.D.R. Mill.

In 1916 the Irving School, a two room schoolhouse was built to meet the needs of a growing community,  This school was named after logging foreman, Joseph Irving.  The school was located north of the mill near the tracks.  The school was closed in 1923, when the new Whitehorse School opened.  McCaugheys took over the old schoolhouse using it for their office.  Sometime in the 1930s Mr. Larry Taylor Sr. took over the lease at the same time leasing the mill at Cicero.  With the coming of WII, the L.D.R. mill was shut down, then later abandoned.  The building materials used for the school were salvaged during war times by Mr. Taylor when supplies were very hard to obtain.  These materials were brought to Arlington Heights to build a new home for his bride to be.

The remaining structure of the old school burned and all that remains is the two chimneys.  The L.D.R. Mill eventually collapsed, over time reclaimed by vegetation.

L.D.R. Mill and Irving School Today