According to the “Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town,” the Packard Sawmill is located on Sparkwood Road near Black Lake Falls. The mill played a critical role in most of the first season of Twin Peaks before being destroyed by a fire set by Leo Johnson. This article takes a look at the exterior locations of The Packard Mill seen in all three seasons and The Missing Pieces from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Most of the mill exterior shots were captured in Snoqualmie, Washington according to an interview in Chris Rodley’s “Lynch on Lynch.”
“The old mill was torn down two months after we got there. And a little mill went up – a little, efficient mill that will only take twenty-four-inch diameter logs. But it was so great and we had maybe four days shooting inside and outside and we were always using those images – the saw blades and stuff. I wanted to shoot those but not for the title sequence. Then, later on, it became part of that.”
I thought mill exterior images were seen more often in Season 1 and 2, probably because an establishing shot of the mill was used in the opening credits. As it turns out, there are only a handful of exterior looks are seen in the series.
The first time the exterior location appears is in the Pilot episode as seen in the image above.
Later in the Pilot, a different establishing shot is used just prior to Pete Martell is seen counting “2 by 4s.” Look carefully to see logs moving up a conveyer belt in the bottom left corner of the image.
Once Jose Packard adresses mill workers about Laura Palmer’s death, a shot of a Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department officer is shown escorting Janek Pulaski (played by Rick Tutor) to a police car. The actor who plays this character is different for Episode 1001. I also thought more scenes with Janek would exist, especially since Maria Pulaski is also credited in the Pilot Episode but never seen.
Here are additional looks at Janek’s walk.
This is the final appearance of the mill exterior in the Pilot Episode.
The same establishing shot from the opening credits of the Pilot will be used in the remaining episodes for Seasons 1 and 2.
In Episode 1007, another establishing shot is shown just after James, Maddy and Donna listen to Laura Palmer’s audio recording to Dr. Jacoby. The scene cuts to a image of a log being cut in half.
Leo Johnson parks his truck outside drying shed 3 at the Packard Sawmill. This location was most likely shot somewhere in southern California but I have yet to find the location (could be on a studio backlot).
Leo removes red gas cans he placed in his truck in Episode 1005 and walks into the drying shed where he has tied up Shelly Johnson.
A cool silhouetted nighttime shot of the mill appears later in Episode 1007 just before Catherine Martell is shown destroying the mill office. She receives a call telling her to go to Drying Shed 3 to find what she is seeking.
And then there was the fire…
Drying Shed 3 ignites after Leo’s homemade fire starter is set off.
Pete Martell approaches the burning building with another Packard Sawmill employee. I love the giant “Packard Sawmill” sign painted on the side of the building behind them.
Pete surveys the flames which engulf the shed.
He lowers his safety goggles and waits a beat before grabbing a fire extinguisher from his fellow logger.
He charges into the burning building yelling for his love and wife Catherine.
The scene cuts from the wide angle shot to a closer shot of “Pete” running into the building (most likely played by stunt performer Michael Allen Lerner or Rock Walker).
One final wide angle shot of the burning shed is seen to close out the Mill’s appearances in Season 1.
A similar longer credits sequence is used for Episode 2001, the beginning of season 2.
About 20 minutes into Episode 2001, a camera pans to the aftermath of the mill fire.
This footage has not been identified but it could be from a fire that took place at the Snoqualmie Mill in February 1989. According an April 1993 article in the Seattle Times:
“Tragedy struck on a freezing night in February 1989 when a fire burned the 120,000-square-foot plywood plant to the ground. More than 100 people were put out of jobs at that plant, which produced 90 million square feet of plywood annually, most of it for use in the Puget Sound area.
At the time of the fire, Weyerhaeuser had already planned to close its outdated 70-year-old sawmill. Almost 100 more workers lost jobs when it closed that April. The mill was designed to cut 70-inch-diameter logs, but the supply of old-growth logs had diminished.”
The crew could have easily returned to the site to capture footage.
The final appearance of the Mill in Season 2 takes place when Shelly Johnson watches reporter Cyril Pons (played by Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost) on television from her hospital bed.
The Packard Mill returns in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me for a brief moment as Bobby Briggs and Laura Palmer visit the woods around midnight for a really big score. The coolest part about this scene is the smoke coming from the Mill is played in reverse. Took me a few times watching this scene in the past 25 years before I realized it.
Thanks to the release of The Missing Pieces in 2014 we have a few more shots of the Packard Mill exterior.
Cut and stacked wood planks pass by on a conveyer belt as on screen titles remind us how many days are left until Laura Palmer’s murder.
The scene cuts to Pete Martell in silver hardhat reviewing paperwork.
A wide angle shot has Jose Packard and Dell Mibbler, a long time assistant manager at Twin Peaks Savings and Loan, approaching Pete.
Dell argues with Pete over the size dimensions of two-by-fours.
A closer shot of Josie using a ruler to explain Dell’s concerns.
I love the final shots of this exchange when Dell realizes what Pete is trying to tell him. While I understand why this scene doesn’t appear in the final cut of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, it makes me laugh every time. It also could explain why Pete is reiterating “2 by 4s” in the Pilot Episode since this exchange would have recently taken place.
This brings us to the final image of the now closed mill which makes an appearance very early in Part 1 on Showtime. It’s the only time the mill will be seen in Season 3 – a ghost of the past standing tall in the misty morning.
