Braymill Mercantile Store - Braymill, OR
N 42° 36.476 W 121° 48.657
10T E 597532 N 4717963
Two ghost signs hang in front of an old mercantile store, long closed to the public, and one of the few remnants of the logging community of Braymill's glory days.
Waymark Code: WMRFHM
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 06/19/2016
Views: 1
This old, brick building caught my eye when passing through and I had to stop and take a few pictures. I then noticed two older wooden signs hanging in front advertising this building's services. One sign reads 'BRAYMILL MERCHANDISE' with the words 'CANDIES', 'SOFT DRINKS', and 'TOBACCO' the only words I could read underneath the sign. The second sign contains the words 'AUTOMOBILE SUPPLIES' and 'SPORTSMENS OUTFITS'. You can barely make out the words 'TOOLS' and 'TIRES' on the sign.
While I was taking pictures of this building, the property owner pulled up in his car and we got to talking about the history of this area. He lives in the white house up the hill that was once the main office to Bray Mill. He related that this brick building once housed a post office as well. The store served the logging community for many years until closing many years ago. Half the property belongs to him and the other half was donated to the Klamath Tribes. There's a fish hatchery complex across the road from the property owner's house. A few buildings are all that remain of Bray Mill. You can even see the old road that passed behind this brick building before it was rerouted closer to Sprague River in the late 1960s.
I located an article on the history of this mill and a small excerpt reads:
Meanwhile, in 1919, John Bedford and Harold Crane built the Sprague River Lumber Company on the Sprague River, 3 miles east of Chiloquin. Sold to William Bray in 1921, it became the Braymill White Pine Lumber Company, prior to closing in the 1928 stock market collapse. Although closed, Bray allowed some of the work crew to remain in the company houses during the depression.