Mill D - Ground Floor Front Area

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After emerging from the spiral staircase, we find ourselves in a large warehouse/storage room in the front of Mill D. One can see the Powerhouse out the windows.

 

On the other side of the room from the Powerhouse, there is a passage over the river leading to another small building that is part of the Mill D complex.

 

Entering the passage.

 

The views out the windows are very beautiful (at least, they are as far as I'm concerned).
[The left photo is taken out the passage window; the right was taken out of an office window on the far side of the passage]

 

The first thing on the other side of the passage is an office, which has been torn up considerably.

Moving past the office, we find an industrial room containing lots of strange things... A visitor to this site who works in the paper industry pointed out that the items in those boxes are core plugs - these are inserted into the hollow core at the center of a paper roll in order to prevent the core from being crushed during shipment and handling.

 

...such as these holes in the floor, where once machines or tanks presumably stood.

The labels on this tank level monitor indicate that the tanks contained latex and clay... Don't you wonder what those were used for in a paper mill? Well, I did, until I was told that latex acts as a surfactant and clay as a brightener, and an agent to add opaqueness to paper. I have also been told that latex is a primary ingredient in paper/cardboard milk cartons, and that clay can be used in concentrations up to 17% as a filler (since clay is generally cheaper than wood fiber).

 

More equipment on the same panel.

 

This part of the panel contains lots of indicators and knobs.

 

These small cardboard rolls seem too small to be rolls for storing paper on, but that sure is what they appear to be.

 

The room contains a couple of smallish tanks...

...and some larger tanks, or, chests. Perhaps these were the Latex Tank, Clay Tank, and No.1 and No.2 storage tanks. (Storage of what?)

 

That chest/tank in the background goes all the way to the ceiling and all the way through the floor to the ground level below (the floor below this has been explored but not photographed).

 

Departing from our actual tour for a moment; we bring you an image of a door leading to the area directly below where we are now.

 

There's a receipt for some cores; perhaps the ones seen earlier. Evidently, in its last incarntion, this factory did business as Portage Paper. From records found in the Powerhouse, we believe that it ceased operation in 1998 or 1999; evidently Mill D was still running at least through 1996.

 

On our way back; man that office is a mess!

 

On the way back, we pause to look out more windows. The picture on the left was taken out of a window before crossing the walkway, and the one on the right was taken out the walkway window.

 

Now that we're back in the Mill D Warehouse/Shipping room, lets head to the paper machine room of Mill D.