A sawmill is a factory where logs are cut into boards and planks. When loggers cut down trees in a forest, they send the massive tree trunks to a sawmill, where powerful machines slice them into the lumber used to build houses, furniture, and countless other wooden products.

The heart of a sawmill is its enormous saw blade, which can be several feet across. Workers feed whole logs through these blades, cutting them lengthwise into flat boards of different thicknesses. A single large tree trunk might become dozens of two-by-fours for framing a house, or beautiful hardwood planks for making a dining table.

Sawmills were once powered by water wheels built alongside rivers, which is why old mill towns often grew up near rushing streams. Today's sawmills use electricity and sophisticated equipment, but the basic job remains the same: transforming round tree trunks into flat, usable lumber. The sharp, clean smell of fresh-cut wood fills the air around a sawmill, and the whine of the saws can be heard from far away.

Before sawmills existed, carpenters had to cut each board by hand using a two-person saw, with one person standing above the log and one below. Building even a small house required weeks of exhausting work. The sawmill changed everything, making wooden construction faster and cheaper, which helped towns and cities grow across America.