Final days of The Panama City Paper Mill

[@davidpage3893]

I work at Great Northern Paper in East Millinocket Maine from 1979 to 2011. Our company was founded in 1899 and shut down in 2014 and dismantled in 2017. We made newsprint , light weight directory, and the Millinocket mill made various grades of printing papers and coated paper. GNP had over 2 million acres of timber, 12 hydro electric dams, and it its peak in the 1960’s-70’s employed over 4200 workers. So sad to see the pulp & paper industry in Maine and everywhere in decline.

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

Agree completely. I lucked out and found another job but had to move 1,000 miles. It’s always sad to hear about other mills closing. So many mills have closed over the past 20-30 years. The one in Panama City came as a shock to all of us and we hoped someone would come in and buy it. Didn’t happen and it will probably be torn down. Heard a concrete company bought the property. While it may create jobs I can almost guarantee they won’t be paying mill wages.

[@TheDAT9]

Don't apologise. The authentic sound of the mill is much better than inane music on most of this type of video.

[@MilePost106]

I love the actual sound of the machinery running. I hate when people add music it takes one away from the real feeling and sounds of industrial.

[@johnrday2023]

This an older mill - new mills had closed hoods (with sections of panels that could be raised or lowered - for 'breaks', etc.)

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

Yep. Built in 1931 by International Paper. At the time they claimed it was the largest mill in the world! I have been to other and newer mills and they have hoods on the dryer section. Was very sad to see it close down and sad for my coworkers who weren’t as lucky as me to find a good paying job. The mill I work at now has those hoods that raise during a paper break. The PC mill was very hot without hoods. I would guess the temps in the dryer section were around 120-130 degrees year round.

[@EastCoast.80]

I worked for SMITH INDUSTRIAL SERVICES here, I hate to hear this place Shut Down. I now live in Tennessee and work for International Paper / IP. Tell Jason Reagan I said Hello ..!

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

I moved to Michigan and work at a mill here now. Miss my friends in PC hard to believe it’s been almost a year now since they shut down.

[@TheJoe111599]

Thanks for the video! Sad to see this Mill closing. :(

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

Yep. Was very sad to see it close. Would love to see what it looks like now when it’s about empty. It closed June 6, 2022 and by the following weekend I moved across country to another mill and probably won’t ever be back to Panama City.

[@vic40171]

Why did it close?

[@TheJoe111599]

@@vic40171 I heard that the property was sold to the company that owns the ports. Ports used for unloading those big ships. I'm not sure on the specifics though. Other than Joe Biden's economy and everyone going woke losing their minds. 😕

[@TheJoe111599]

@@mikeinthefastlane8370 sorry that happened Mike. I work in Stevenson, AL. Are you still with WestRock?

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

@@TheJoe111599 at first I wanted to stay with the company. But then the severance package sounded pretty good so I took that and ended up working for a competitor.

[@jamesmwise2553]

I worked on the paper machines for 29 years and retired , I ran the #2 Pulp Cutter Most of the Time, I was called the king of the Cutter, my name is James Wise, Sorry to see it Shutdown Permanently.

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

I remember the sound of the cutter could put you to sleep on a midnight shift!

[@soupito]

It sucks when it's your job at the paper mill comes to an end ,along with your working friends.

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

Yeah I went to another mill but moved far away. Was lucky to find another job in a mill. Still keep in touch with my friends in PC

[@CeriousCyprus]

Why do they blow the whistle?

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

They blew the whistle at start of shift, 7am, lunch 12:00pm, end of lunch 12:30pm and end of shift 3:30pm. It was also used for emergencies. This way the emergency response team could hear it from anywhere on location. When it blew at an odd time everyone stopped what they were doing to listen on the mill radio to see what the emergency was.

[@stacy3633]

Gonna miss coming in a working those outrages 😠

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

Me too. Always enjoyed the annual outage.

[@TheMetalmachine467]

sad to see all those people out of work just so they can make it cheaper in china or mexico

[@robertcornelius3514]

Closing is a good way to start saving the trees.

[@mikeinthefastlane8370]

They did have tree farms. By the time they were done harvesting it was time to harvest again. The trees used were the southern pine which were developed specifically for making paper. So they did not just cut down random trees. All of them came from tree farms that were developed for making paper.

[@wilcaroll1410]

Worked in paper mills nothing but hard work low pay mechanical engineering don't do it