Adam’s Sawmill, Main Street

On the left of this mid 1920’s photo is “Adam’s Sawmill”, the business of William Adam and his brother. The photo looks eastwards along Main Street. The entrance to the “Adam C&W” sawmill was between the lampost and the end of the building, not to be confused by the gates in the foreground, which lead to a house.The little building on the left foreground was the weighing machine house.

The three storey, stone tenement building on the left, before the Old Parish Church halls belonged to others, but to the west of it was a small 2 stroey tenement which was called “Adam’s Laun”, after its owner, also William Adam. The buildings sat on land formerly known as Archer’s Croft. William Adam lived there in 1881 and would later move nearby and across the road, to the impressive and older, Shott House.

Rutherglen born William Adam and his brother, (who was the main shareholder of the business) moved to Blantyre in 1874 taking advantage of the construction boom and growing opportunity for wood crafts as Blantyre’s population grew. One of their first and most major contracts was the construction of Stonefield Parish Church. The Adam brothers also built many other buildings in Blantyre.

The buildings on the right were mostly homes, although there were a couple of shops and a pub. Those 2 storey tenements were built in 1865 by the Downie family, who owned many houses in Blantyre throughout the remainder of the 1800s.

In the foreground on the right is Craigmuir Road. A wee boy sits on the wall, which next time your driving past, have a look and the wall is still there.