Varner's Mill in The Town (Location)

Turning trees into lumber is one of the staples of the Yoknapatawpha economy, so there are a number of saw mills in the various texts. This struggling sawmill ("a saw mill where even the owner must be a financial genius to avoid bankruptcy," 33), must be in the Frenchman's Bend vicinity because it is owned by Will Varner. There are a number of different kinds of mils in Yoknapatawpha, and in the two other texts that mention 'Varner's,' "By the People" and The Mansion, it's probably not a sawmill - since in those texts it's driven by water power, which wouldn't be dependable or strong enough to drive the machinery in a sawmill. And elsewhere - The Hamlet and "Tomorrow" - the sawmill is owned by the Quick family, which is why we locate Varner's mill in this novel on the spot in those texts where we put Quick's. But that is an editorial action. The Town quite clearly says "Uncle Billy Varner's saw mill" (33), though it doesn't provide a clue to its location.