(Photo by Calvin Shepherd - Use By Permission)
Alderson West Virginia - A History
Lumber
If
one
is
interested
in
that
great
mountain,
Keeney’s,
that
towers
to
the
West
of
Alderson,
then
Mr.
Elbert
Taylor
and
his
wife,
Fannie
O’Dell
Taylor,
are
valuable sources of information.
The largest lumber operation ever located in the Alderson section cut the timber from a 5400 acre tract on the Keeney’s Mountain range.
In
1906
the
Commonwealth
Lumber
Company
of
Pennsylvania,
started
operating
at
Glen
Ray,
west
of
town
between
the
C.
&
O.
Rail-
way
and
the
Greenbrier.
Commonwealth
built
the
village
of
Glen
Ray
of
twenty
houses,
a
store,
a
boarding
house
and
a
barn.
Three
well-
known
carpenters,
Emmett
Taylor,
Gilbert
Miller
and
Matt
Kershner
with
helpers,
built
the
town.
(Five
houses
still
stand.)
A
six-foot
Clark
band
mill,
the
first
in
this
part
of
the
state,
was
built
and
was
capable
of
producing
35,000
board
feet
of
lumber
a
day.
Then
the
company
built
a
bridge
across
the
Greenbrier
and
started
a
standard
gauge
railroad
to
haul
the
logs
to
the
mill.
They
had
three
engines,
one
Climax
and
two
Shays.
Eventually,
there
were
twenty-five
miles
of
railroad
going
up
Griffith’s
Creek
and
winding
all
over
Keeney’s
Mountain.
A
Mr.
West
was
the
first
superintendent
who
supervised
all
of
the
first building. He was followed by Harry Curl. Mr. Elbert Taylor started as water boy on the railroad.
At
the
same
time,
C.
B.
Thompson
of
Columbus,
Ohio,
built
a
mill
in
Glen
Ray
known
as
C.
B.
Thompson
Lumber
Co.
Commonwealth
had
a
contract
with
Thompson
to
furnish
hickory
timbers
to
make
wagon
wheels
and
wagon
parts.
Commonwealth
did
not
have
enough
hickory
to
fulfill
the
contract
and went into receivership about 1911 to avoid damages and void the contract.
About
1912
a
new
company
started
operation,
Glen
Ray
Lumber
Company,
which
was
essentially
the
same
company
as
Commonwealth,
operated
by
the
same
management
and
ownership.
Some
of
the
bosses
were
"Dad"
Briggs,
superintendent,
"Dad"
Eastman
who
was
mill
foreman
and
who
was
succeeded
by
John
Rossey.
John
Hughart
was
yard
foreman.
The
first
store
manager
was
Mr.
Brewer,
followed
by
Carl
McLaughlin.
Archie
Parmenter,
an
Englishman,
was
bookkeeper.
Elbert
Taylor
became
a
timber
cutter
and
was
promoted
to
superintendent
of
the
woods
and
the
railroad.
Ref: Mr. and Mrs. Elbert Taylor, Griffith's Creek.
Another
sizeable
lumber
operation
that
operated
in
Alderson
was
owned
by
Frank
N.
Mann.
It
started
about
1892
and
was
the
F.
N.
Mann
Sash,
Door
and
Moulding
Company.
Within
three
years
the
business
employed
thirty
men
and
by
1906
employed
sixty
men.
But
three
of
the
original
employees
still live. Mr. Charley Holcomb of Alderson is one of them.
This
mill
made
fine
inside
trim
of
locally
purchased
timber,
much
of
it
cherry.
Most
of
its
finest
products
were
shipped
to
the
Empire
City
Woodworking
Company of New York City. Production was about a railroad carload per week.
The mill’s first foreman was Sol Faust from Pennsylvania, and the first bookkeeper was Guy Stulting, followed by Fred Faust.
The
mill
burned
March
10,
1910,
and
Mr.
Mann
moved
to
Huntington
where
he
was
given
a
site
to
erect
another
mill
called
Huntington
Sash,
Door
and
Trim
Company.
The
site
of
the
old
mill
was
sold
to
J.
J.
Tait
who
rebuilt
the
mill
and
ran
it
for
several
years.
At
present,
Russell
Quillen
has
a
mill
located on the same site.
Ref: Mr. Frank Nash, Alderson
The contents contained in this series is copyrighted and the sole property of The Greenbrier Historical Society - Lewisburg, WV Used by permission - November 18, 2008
Main Index
The
Commonwealth
Lumber
Company
mill
at
Glen
Ray,
a
mile
west
of
Alderson
was
in
full
production
in
1910
when
this
photo
of
part
of
its
crew
was
taken
near
the
log
pond.
The
Mill
went
into
production
in
1906
and
continued
until
1914,
operating
an
extensive
logging
railroad
up
Kenney's
Knob.
Photo
form
T.
W.
Dixon
Collection (Click on photo for larger view)
Lumbering
was
a
big
industry
around
Alderson
and
this
man
was
quick
to
have
his
picture
made
with
this
prize
log
on
Railroad
Ave.
about
1910.
Alderson's
ubiquitous
photographer,
J.
W.
McClung,
was
again
ready
with
his
giant
8x10 camera and a good stock of glass plates. (Click on photo for larger view)
The History of Alderson, West Virginia
From The Journal Of The Greenbrier Historical Society On Alderson, West Virginia
Written by Kenneth D. Swope - Compiled and Transcribed by Barry Worrell
Glen
Ray
Lumber
Company
had
about
one
hundred
men
working.
The
standard
wage
was
$1.00
per
day
for
laborers
and
higher
pay
for
skilled
workers.
The
Company
also
operated
a
lath
mill
producing
plastering
laths.
All
lumber
was
shipped
by
C.
&
O.,
mostly
to
flooring
plants
in
Pennsylvania.
Some
was exported via Newport News, Virginia. Much of the export timber was 5" by 3" to build docks.
One
huge
log,
a
white
oak,
was
nearly
six
feet
at
the
butt
and
from
it
was
cut
1696
board
feet
of
lumber.
Glen
Ray
Lumber
Company
quit
when
the
timber
was
depleted
in
1915.
One
virgin
stand
of
timber
of
about
250
acres
on
the
head-
waters
of
Lick
Creek
was
not
accessible
and
is
still
there,
said
to be owned now by J. B. Belcher and Son’s Lumber Company.
(Click on photo for larger view)
