| Depot And Elevator Area |
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Enos Frost St. John came to Highland in 1837. He had nine children, including son Germain St. John who, with Almon Ruggles, platted the the village of Highland Station in 1872 and gave his name to St. John street. Another son, Samuel St. John, had nine children of his own. Among these were sons Lester, Enos and George, who collectively designed and built many of the town's Victorian homes, churches and shops. Lester St. John had a shop and lumber mill on the east side of St. John Street, north of the Highland House hotel. In addition to making wooden items used for buildings, he produced slats for fencing and wooden potato crates. In 1898 he built the huge windmill pictured below to supply power to his woodworking machinery. The wheel was 26 feet, 10 inches in diameter and was said to be one of the finest wind plants in the country. Lester and his family initially lived in the mill, but his wife - concerned the huge windmill might blow down on them in a strong wind - persuaded her husband to move to the house just west of the Methodist Church in 1902. Lester St. John died in 1916. His mill survived until the late 1920's when sparks from machinery at the nearby Road Commission garage set it ablaze. This photo of the mill is looking north-northeast.
