Blue Ox Millworks & Historic Park
The main building at Blue Ox Millworks is a shrine to vintage technology and craftsmanship.
See how gingerbread architecture is made.
Eric Hollenbeck, his family and staff welcome you to the Blue Ox Millworks, where Victorian craftsmanship techniques of the 1800s are utilized to produce authentic custom quality products for homes around the world. Their customers have included two governors' mansions, national parks, historic cathedrals, even the President of the United States.
Visitors to the Blue Ox can watch antique woodworking machinery in operation, visit a skid camp, learn about traditional boat-building, and meet the blue oxen, Babe and Blue. You can take a self-guided tour or call in advance and have one of the crew show you around.
Here's some of what you will see:
- Antique woodworking machinery from the late 1800s and the early 1900s, used in the production of custom millwork in the main woodworking building, sawmill building and moulder building.
- The world's largest functioning collection of human powered equipment from Barnes Manufacturing.
- A blacksmith & machine shop where ornamental iron work and hardware is made.
- A printshop where the Blue Ox's School's annual yearbook is run on antique letterpress machines.
- A cermaic studio where local clays are used and a studio where plaster casts are made for ornamentaion.
- A boat building shop - The Corrina Bella, a forty foot traditional sailing vessel, is being built as a project of the Blue Ox Community School.
- Baby and Blue the famous Belgain Blue oxen.
Find out more about Tours, Classes and Workshops for groups of ten or more.
Directions: From Fourth Street (Highway 101 South) turn right onto X Street and follow to the end. From Fifth Street (Highway 101 North), turn left on V Street, follow down to Third or Second Street, then turn right and drive two blocks to X; turn left and follow to end.