Sign in or create a free account to curate your search content.
Cutting down trees and moving them to the sawmill is the hardest part of extracting lumber. Long ago, people used axes to cut trees and animals like oxen or horses to drag the logs. Later, as sawmills grew, better ways to move logs were needed.
To get land ready for logging, workers cleared a rough path called a skidroad. Two sawyers used a large crosscut saw to cut down trees near the path, guiding the fall with a notch in the trunk. They worked with a fitter, who marked the cuts, and k...
To move logs out of the forest, horses were used. The teamster fed and groomed the horses then brought them to the skidroad. Workers connected logs into a line using chains called grabs. The horses then pulled the logs to a landing near a stream o...
Before railroads, logs were stored until a flood came, then floated downriver to the mill. Later, railroads used steam loaders and engines to carry logs to the mill, where they were kept in ponds until ready to be sawed.
The Shay locomotive was a key engine used in West Virginia’s logging railroads. It was designed to handle steep, rough tracks in the mountains, with a special gear-driven system that made it powerful but slow. Between 1882 and 1927, about 219 Shay...
Logging camps were set up far from towns and could hold up to 100 men. Food was brought in by train, and cooks made big meals for the workers. Most men stayed for a week or more before going to town, where they often partied hard, making towns lik...
Early settlers used hand-powered whip saws and water-powered sawmills for lumber. By the early 1800s, steam-powered circular sawmills were developed. These mills grew in number, reaching over 400 by 1880, but had little effect on the large forests...
The Pardee & Curtin Lumber Company, started in 1873, is the oldest continuously running lumber company in West Virginia. It built and operated several sawmills across the state, most notably in Nicholas and Webster counties, producing hundreds...
In the early 1900s, brothers Thomas and John Raine started the Meadow River Lumber Company in Greenbrier County. They built a sawmill, a town called Rainelle, and a railroad. The original mill burned in 1924 but was rebuilt and became the world's ...
Founded in 1901 by William M. Ritter, the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company grew quickly and became one of the largest lumber companies in West Virginia. It expanded into several states, and Ritter divided the company into four parts to manage its opera...
Babcock Lumber Company, founded in Pittsburgh in 1887, was a major player in West Virginia’s early timber industry and is still in business today. In the early 1900s, it was the world’s largest hardwood producer. Babcock bought a big operation in ...
This company began in 1888 when William Luke founded the Piedmont Pulp & Paper Company near Piedmont (Mineral County). In 1889, it became the West Virginia Paper Company and later, in 1897, the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company. The compa...
In 1880, most of West Virginia was still covered in ancient forests, but by 1920, much of it was cleared. Early sawmills used water power, but steam and electric mills later allowed companies to cut trees faster. Railroads helped move equipment an...
Forest fires are a big problem in West Virginia, damaging forests, polluting air and water, and causing erosion. Most fires happen in the southern coalfields, often due to arson or accidents like campfires, power lines, or burning trash. Fires are...
West Virginia's original forests were some of the best hardwood forests in the country, but they were heavily cut down between 1870 and 1920. This caused fires, soil erosion, and flooding, particularly in 1907, which caused major damage. In respon...
West Virginia’s forest fire towers were shut down in 1990 after many years of use. Around 100 towers once helped spot fires across the state. The first towers were built in 1916 after large fires followed heavy logging. Observers lived in the towe...
The Cass Scenic Railroad in Pocahontas County is a popular attraction at Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. It offers rides on a historic logging railroad that was built in the early 1900s to transport timber for a pulp mill and lumber mill. The rai...
This Exhibit has 15 Sections