I was saddened to read the article of the Camas paper mill losing up to 300 jobs. The mill was more than a manufacturing plant producing paper products. It supported many a family in the Camas/Washougal area and provided a financial boost by means of summer employment to students home from college.
My wife and I were two of those students in the early ’60s, as was my father in the late ’20s. My grandfather was a papermaker who traveled throughout France, England and Canada offering his talents in starting mills in the early 1900s. He came to Camas in 1921 from Quebec, Canada, and was employed at the Camas mill.
I’m sure there are numerous families in Camas who have mill history and have the same memories as I do. My personal memory of the mill is worn on my wife’s left hand as I purchased that ring over 50 years ago with money earned from the mill.
