Herbert Brewer (left) and Al Lester (right) load logs onto a trailer pulled by a Farmall tractor on MacMahan Island. Brewer and Lester worked for Edwin Cromwell (1908-2001), a sawmill owner from Westport who managed the logging operation.

The loggers hauled the wood to a boom on the west shore of MacMahan Island, and floated it over Goose Rock Passage to Westport Island.

The landowner's association on MacMahan Island prompted this timbering operation out of concern for the devastating effects a fire might have on the island. A forester from Pejepscot Paper Company supervised the removal of trees, which were cut to make a fire lane across the island, separating the forest and cottages.

The timber was sold as pulp for paper production at the Pejepscot Paper Company in Topsham.