Richard M. Rupley

Except during the wee hours of the night, it was never really quiet in Chassell during the twenty-five years that Worcester Lumber Company operated at the village. Every morning Monday through Saturday the mill’s whistle sounded three times at 5A.M. to waken the teamsters and tell them to prepare their horses for another day’s work. At 6.A.M. two whistles sounded to wake the mill crew and another at 7A.M. signified the beginning of the workday. Then the belts and saws inside the mill began to hum and zing. At noon another whistle announced the dinner hour and at 1P.M. another told of the return to work. At 6P.M. the whistle blew again telling all that the workday was over and the humming and zinging sounds stopped for another day. One last whistle from the mill at 8:30P.M. every night except Saturday announced the beginning of curfew. Everyone was to be in their place of residence for the night. Then there was the continuous whistle blast that signified a fire or other emergency at the mill or in the community. Designated Worcester workers stopped what they were doing and responded.

The whistles sounded throughout summer and winter. When normal milling and shipping and receiving operations ceased, mill employees preformed maintenance on their equipment and removed snow from the yard, the company railroad tracks, and the village streets.

In addition to the whistles and noise from the mill, the church bell at St. Anne’s Catholic Church rang at 7A.M., noon, and 6 P.M. every day announcing to the faithful that it was time for Angelus. On Sundays the bell ringing was joined by more bells from the congregational church at the opposite end of town announcing services.

Then there were the four passenger trains and two freight trains that passed through Chassell every day and, after 1909, a logging train that arrived and departed every workday. All sounded their whistles at each of the three crossings in the village and there were the horn blasts from the lumber hookers on Pike Bay that announced each arrival or departure.

Chassell was a noisy place to live and work. All sounds were repeated daily except Sunday when only the church bells, the train whistles, and the occasional ship’s horn interrupted the relative solitude.

To read the full history of Chassell, Michigan, see the July/August 2005 issue of Michigan History. Call (800) 366-3703 for ordering information. See past and present photos of Chassell.