Sawmill in Jurgow

  In Jurgow we have one of the few historic water-powered sawmills still in operation. There are no records for how old the mill on this site is, but a mill has existed here for a couple of years. The sawmill has several times been nearly destroyed by fire, but was always rebuilt again. Water for sawmill travels along a small man-made creek called "Przykopa" (see the picture on the right). It is an arm of the Bialka river. Formerly the water from the Przykopa creek was probably used to power water wheels for making "folusz" (felt from sheep's wool), grinding wheat and hydroelectric power. Today it is being used only to operate the sawmill.People in Jurgow still need the mill because they are still making many things of wood. (section about it will be available soon). Earlier buildings housing equipment driven by water don't exist anymore. In some places there are only foundations left. In the best years on this river there was a sawmill, two wheat-grinding mills, a "folusz" (felt processing mill) and a power station. The power station was destroyed by fire at the end of 1980's.

View of sawmill from the street.	View of sawmill from the forest, you can see also sawmill falls on the picture.
Inside Jurgow's sawmill.	Inside Jurgow's sawmill.
An old picture of Jurgow's sawmill. (around 1950 r.)	An old picture of Jurgow's sawmill. Here is shown the roof of the earlier wheat-grinding mill.

  There was an idea to rebuild the power station last time the mill was reconstructed, but never became a reality. Likely any new power station will not be rebuilt like the other old buildings. The "Folusz" or felt processing building is now a carpenter's mill. The old wheat-grinding mill's water wheel next to the "Folusz" wheel will probably also never be used to grind flour.

The "Burtnica" under last reconstruction in 1993.	Ice (in the flume) makes the sawmill unusable in Winter.
Water wheel.	Water wheel during work.

  The sawmill is own by the "LeÅ›na Wspólnota Urbarialna w Jurgowie" (The Forest Community in Jurgow). During the last few years, the mill has been utilized less. The sawmill cannot be used during the Winter because ice forms in the flume, and with no water flow, there is no energy to run the mill. There is a plan to fit the sawmill with an electric motor.
  What will happen with Jurgow's sawmill we will see soon.