History of "Maison Charlois" #1

We are often contacted by people in possession of photographs, texts, tools and other elements relating to the Charlois group’s activities.

Jean-Louis Binder, a keen photographer and friend of the Charlois family, recently sent us photographs from a period when he could regularly be found in Murlin between the early 1950s and the late 1960s.

We are delighted to be able to share these images with you and we hope that you will enjoy gaining further insight into the history of the Maison Charlois stavemill.

An heir to a long lineage of stave splitters working in the Bertranges forest since the middle of the 17th century, Eugène Charlois established the family’s activities in 1928 with the creation of the Murlin workshop.

The family business continued to grow in the 20th century under the aegis of Eugène, followed by his son Denis who took over the running of the company upon the death of his father in 1969. Denis gradually turned the company into the leading stave producer in France, with the help of his eldest sons, Lionel and Xavier, who joined the business in the mid-1980s.

The original “Maison Charlois” workshop, which the family referred to as “le chantier” (work site), was situated opposite the current stave mill, between the building that is now home to the Charlois group’s administrative offices and the house in which Denis Charlois was born.

The site specialised in the splitting and sawing of oakwood and formerly produced cleft timber (staves, slats) and sawn timber, primarily for railway sleepers, as well as structural parts such as rafters.

These images provided by Jean-Louis Binder offer a better understanding of the history of “Maison Charlois” during the 1950s and 1960s. This selection of photographs not only demonstrates the working conditions of the era but also the evolution of stave mill techniques and activities in the second half of the 20th century.

• Photograph of Eugène Charlois sorting slats © Jean-Louis Binder
• Photograph of Eugène and Denis Charlois cutting logs in the summer of 1963 © Jean-Louis Binder
• Aerial photographs of the village of Murlin in 1971 and 2020 © I.G.N.