The map above shows sawmills and logging camps in the Sooke region.
This map does not cover ALL logging outfits. It was made for the Sooke Region Museum’s 2017 temporary exhibit Sawmills! More Than Machines, and thus was based on sawmills and logging camps. There have been additions of the roving operations throughout the area to show a comprehensive look at the region’s logging activities.

Red icons indicate sawmills, green indicate logging camps and brown indicate roving operations.

You can see how sawmills were a major point of activity in the region, and how the most populous areas formed around the mills and logging roads. Camps established by logging outfits eventually developed into small communities of people. Logging camps and mill communities have shaped the region in physical, social and economic ways. When camps were first established, logging companies made housing available, and encouraged married loggers to move their families to camp. The large turnover in crews made it advisable to try and hold steady men as home guards. Eventually these small communities evolved into small towns with schools, stores, and other services. Evidence of these camps can be found at old sites such as bottles, crockery, enamel ware and other assorted pieces of a once active camp. However, more often, communities live on in the stories told.