Sierra Voices #3 | Mary Grace Marshal

Presented by Mary Grace Marshal

       In the mid-twentieth century, there were several sawmill communities in the Sierra National Forest, however, by the end of the 1970s they were gone. The completion of timber sales under Edison contracts, curtailment of sales by the U. S. Forest Service, and environmental concerns caused the owners to either close down operations or sell out. Housing continued to be used at some of the sites as it was conveniently located for loggers and millworkers working for new owners, but the sense of community was lost. The era had passed.

Mary Grace Marshall, nee Phillips, spent her childhood at Byles Jamison. She is among the few who can speak of living in a sawmill community from first-hand experience. On February 22, 2005, Mary Grace sat down with Central Sierra Historical Society volunteers and narrated her story.

She lived in Burrough Valley in the winter and spent the summers in Dinkey Creek until her junior year at Sierra High.  She worked at the Academy Store. She attended Fresno City College and Fresno State. She married Jake Marshall in 1961 and moved back up the hill near Prather. She is active in the Eastern Fresno County Historical Society and the Sierra Oaks Senior Center. 

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The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable Foundation – Donating to the Sierra Voices program since 2013

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