Javier Guénette's farm (not related to Philias) at Lac Bouchette before some of his land was flooded by the Villeneuve Wood Company in 1905. The timber industry provided essential income for families. Farmers could rely on these jobs in the forest or at the mills and make the most of the off-season. Wood was needed for construction, and sawdust was used to insulate houses. It was also effective in preserving the ice blocks used to preserve food in iceboxes, the ancestors of refrigerators.
Logging quickly transformed the landscape, and the surrounding hills were almost completely cleared, forcing loggers to go deeper and deeper into the
territory.
In 1959, there were still four mills in operation, those of Fred Black, Hervé Guénette, André Legault and J.E. Seale. Today they have all disappeared; only the remains of the dams remain to remind us of their contribution to the development of Morin-Heights.