Second Largest Logging Industry in the World...

BG_Farmer said:
I wonder how firm a claim that is. There were similarly large operations in the Smokies and Cumberlands.

Also I wonder which town was officially the biggest? California and the northwest eventually, of course, but I'm not real clear on the timeline.
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Me neither, it was interesting finding out that a town near by claims this though.
halfaxe said:
So you mean regional rather than countries? I believe Saginaw Michigan was the largest lumber output in 1889, then a rapid decline as the timber ran out. The second, I don't know.
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Yes, regional..
 
Here's some data for those who were curious about the timber industry, by country, in 1900.
(This data looks like it was averaged over the period 1896-1904.)

First, ranking the countries having the largest areas of forests in 1900. Some countries were grouped together, such as in South America, Central Africa, and British Australasia (mainly Australia and New Zealand).

Ranking / Country / Area of Forest (Million Acres)

1a. Russia / 516
1b. Asiatic Russia / 348

2a. United States / 545
2b. Alaska / 107

3. Canada / 550

4. South America / 528

5. Central Africa / 224

6. India / 149

7. British Australasia / 127

8. Japan / 58


Next is the ranking of countries having the largest annual cut of timber in 1900. The U.S. was cutting more than the combined total of the rest of the countries on this list. Note that Japan and Germany made it into the top five rankings (#4 and #5), even though they have relatively smaller areas of forest.

Ranking / Country / Annual Cut (Million Cubic Feet) / Area of Forest (Million Acres)

1. United States / 23,000 / 545

2a. Russia / 7,370 / 516
2b. Asiatic Russia / 450 / 348

3. Canada / 3,000 / 550

4. Japan / 2,055 / 58

5. Germany / 1,706 / 34

6. Sweden / 954 / 48

7. France / 910 / 24

Data from an encyclopedia entry for Lumber Industry
The New International Encyclopaedia, Volume 14
Frank Moore Colby, Talcott Williams, Dodd, Mead, 1915
 
quinton said:
Ha! Another.
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/gorgery/railtunnel.html
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"A huge lumber mill was in operation there which would eventually produce over 200,000 board feet of lumber daily and become the second largest in the world. "

This was a time when the timber industry was growing by leaps & bounds in the Pacific Northwest. New mills were being built every day. 'Largest mill in the world' probably changed several times per year. Having one large mill in Kentucky during that time is admirable but that doesn't say anything about the overall size of their logging industries which I'm certain would have been insignificant compared to what Oregon, Washington or California was producing at that time.
 
Rankings in terms of lumber production:

1880
1. Michigan
2. Pennsylvania
3. Wisconsin
4. New York
5. Indiana

1890
1. Michigan
2. Wisconsin
3. Pennsylvania
4. Minnesota
5. Washington

1900
1. Wisconsin
2. Michigan
3. Minnesota
4. Pennsylvania
5. Arkansas

1907
1. Washington
2. Louisiana
3. Texas
4. Mississippi
5. Arkansas

Total Cut for the period 1880-1907
1. Michigan
2. Wisconsin
3. Pennsylvania
4. Minnesota
5. Washington

Based on data from this table, which originally appeared in:
THE TIMBER SUPPLY OF THE UNITED STATES
By R. S. KELLOGG, ASSISTANT FORESTER
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
FOREST SERVICE—Circular 166.
1909

books
 
1. Awesome thread!
2. Awesome posts, and information, Steve bringing the A game as always.
3. Pa + Warren Axe + Mann Edge + Plumb + all the other blacksmiths I knew would be top 5 if not 3.

So, I am lazy and didn't click on the links, so what is the answer to the original question?
 
Thanks to, Steve for all of the research in this matter. I didn't believe the claim when I first read it, and I knew the knowledge of the members of this forum would expose the truth. But, during my research I also discovered there was a lot of high quality iron made in this area, too.
 
Texas in 1907. That one surprised me. Maybe harvesting cypress in east Texas?
The cedar axe is a Texas pattern I think.
 
garry3 said:
Texas in 1907. That one surprised me. Maybe harvesting cypress in east Texas?
The cedar axe is a Texas pattern I think.
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The cedar axe is a Texas pattern. I read a nice story about it's development awhile back.
 
garry3 said:
Texas in 1907. That one surprised me. Maybe harvesting cypress in east Texas?
The cedar axe is a Texas pattern I think.
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People forget how big Texas is. Our forest is a small part of the state but is still bigger than several other states in their entirety.
 
Big_jack said:
People forget how big Texas is. Our forest is a small part of the state but is still bigger than several other states in their entirety.
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No, I did not forget how big Texas is.
My question has more to do with commercially viable timber that would have made it the third largest producer in 1907.
Was it cypress from east Texas swamps?
 
At the turn of the century (1900-1920), local history books say the corner of the woods where I live on the Olympic Peninsula (Washington) had the world's largest logging camp. When the trees played out, the activity moved elsewhere. Nothing much is left these days, other than scrub second-growth stands and wiped out salmon streams. But when I hike upstream to the wetland flats, I can still find stumps of old cedars and such that are 15 to 20 feet in diameter (DBH).

The logging industry isn't much like it was, either. Everything is mechanized, and rotations are kept short (40 years) so that machines, not people are needed to harvest logs. Logging goes on all around me. I've never seen a logger use an axe.

There was a remarkable man named James Gilchrist Swan (Indian agent, explorer, artist, writer, anthropologist) who wrote of his observations of what the peninsula was like in the mid- to late 1800s, before logging began in earnest. There were birds and animals and fish just everywhere. Salmon filled every stream, no matter how small. Trees were so big that early settlers could shop one down and hollow it out with fire to make a house. Nobody fished for salmon; when they needed something to eat, they just took a gaff to the nearest stream and pulled out dinner.

But we took too much. We didn't give a damn. The latest salmon count on my stream that the tribe just took found no salmon at all. Ten years ago, on the Sadie flats where the big stumps are found, there were still large numbers of salmon juveniles about. After the DNR logged that area, there are virtually no salmon juveniles left, just sediment in the empty streams.

We shouldn't forget.
 
Steve Tall said:
The cedar axe pattern was reportedly designed in Kerrville, Texas (around the late 1920s) and manufactured in quantity by Warren Axe & Tool for the Hartwell Co. (Grey Gorge brand).

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/294/
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Well done Steve.
It always amasses me that so many axes where produced and yet they are so hard to find. The only cedar pattern I have ever seen was the Plumb. But then again I am in the wrong part of the country.
I do not see them pop up on auction sites either though.
 
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