Sawmills have played a prominent role in the settlement and development of our area – houses, barns, schools, sheds and eventually fences took priority in helping people get settled.
This is a classic story of a family that has contributed to our local history for a period of 112 years; passing on the family business to what is now four generations.
Frank Brooks came to Canada from Plymouth, England in 1901 when he was 21 years old. He met his wife Eva in Calgary and began ranching on the homestead he purchased on Beaupre Creek Road, 18 miles northwest of Cochrane in 1910. Frank started the Brooks Sawmill in 1923.
Frank and Eva had four children – Harry, Roy, Frank and Eva – who attended the Beaupre School. Roy’s son, Frank and his wife, Marylou, ran the mill for 50 years. At retirement they handed it over to their son, David and his wife, Marcie, who does bookkeeping for the company.
After 90 years of operation, Marylou said, “We are the only mill left that still does dimensional lumber, where you can get two inch wood. Everyone else has gone metric.”
This comes in handy when renovating an older building if you need actual 2” x 4” studding.
David and Marcie are presently designing a new website to display the various products supplied by the mill. They provide heavy timber for framing and firewood to Kananaskis, Banff and service stations in Cochrane and Calgary.
Their timbers and lumber have been used in set construction for some famous movies filmed in the Cochrane area, such as Legends of the Fall, Hell on Wheels, Brokeback Mountain and the new TV show, Building Railroads.
Marylou (Rudolph) Brooks was born and raised on her grandfather’s acreage near the Crossroads Hotel in the Belfast district of Calgary. Her dad was from England and her mom from Scotland. Living on the outskirts of Calgary, Marylou was used to a farming life – milking cows, raising pigs and chickens and cooking on a wood stove. She attended Crescent Heights High School and worked at Zellers in Calgary.
When her mother rented the Hollowood Coffee Shop at Ghost Lake, Marylou came to help her with the business. It was there that she met Frank Brooks. They were married at St. Andrews United Church in Cochrane in 1960.
Their children Diana, Roy and David have given them seven grandchildren. Roy and David reside on the family homestead with their families. Diana lives down the road, off Hwy. 40.
