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Resident recounts paper-mill history and urges memorial for Millville whistle
Summary
A longtime resident recounted a 1930 city commission action that allowed a paper mill at Bay Harbor and described efforts to preserve or replicate the mill whistle as a community artifact; officials and residents discussed museum display, speaker systems, and siting the memorial in a waterfront park.
A participant with a long memory of the paper mill recounted how the Panama City commission in 1930 arranged to acquire land at Bay Harbor and lease it to a paper company, and described how the mill was operating and producing paper within months. He then urged the city to preserve the mill's whistle as a visible reminder of the town's industrial history.
"Within 10 months, the paper mill was making paper on that property," the participant said, summarizing the mill's rapid early timeline. Speakers discussed technical and safety constraints for restoring the original whistle — it was driven by a 150 PSI steam system and a three-inch pipe — and suggested alternatives such as amplifying recorded whistle sounds in the local museum or installing speakers in a waterfront park to reproduce the original sound without high-pressure steam.
City members encouraged the conversation to continue and suggested involving the historical society and museum staff to assess feasibility, costs and potential locations. No formal commitment or funding decision was made at the meeting; speakers said further research and partner outreach would be needed.
