HARDWOOD RECORD 



45 



In the Heart of Tennessee's Great HardWood Belt. 



UNLOADING TRACK AND MILL. JOHN B. 



Not so very many years ago, practically 

 all the farms about Nashville were sur- 

 rounded by rail lenees of walnut or cedar 

 logs, and not infrequently were negro cabins 

 and sheds of various kinds constructed of 

 these woods. The value of the magnificent 

 hardwoods which grew in abundance on the 

 hills of Tennessee was not appreciated, and 

 men hacked and hewed the precious timber 

 with reckless abandon. Then came the 

 awakening. The markets of the world were 

 calling for hardwoods and Nashville was 

 one of the first to rise to the occasion. 



About the close of the Civil War the 

 hardwood industry of Nashville was fairly 

 on its feet, although there were only a 

 handful of sawmills in operation. The pop- 

 ulation of Tennessee's capital was at that 

 time in the neighborhood of 25,000. As the 

 lumber industry increased the population 

 grew, and the two have kept pace ever 

 since. It is true that no factor has had 

 more to do with this growth than the de- 

 velopment of the lumber industry. Nash- 

 ville's population at this writing is about 

 135,000 and bids fair to reach the 200,000 

 mark in a few years. The business men of 

 the city are wearing little red buttons in 



RANSOM & CO. 



VIEW IN TARD, JOHN B. RANSOM & CO. 



iheir coat lapels, bearing the words "Nash- 

 ville 200,000 club," And it is significant 



JOHN B. RANSOM. 



that the lumbermen are first and foremost 

 in this fight for population. 

 In the earlv seventies Nashville 's hard- 



wood industry included probably a half 

 dozen concerns of importance: the E & N 

 Furniture Company, Hartwell & McClay, the- 

 Southern Pump Company, William Souther- 

 land, the Prewitt-Spurr Manufacturing Com- 

 pany and Goldberg & Co. were the largest. 

 Some of these existed but a few years and 

 loug since passed iuto oblivion: the others- 

 liave advanced with the times and are today 

 among the great industries of the land._ 

 The hardwood interests of the city today 

 are of great proportions and represent a 

 diversified line of manufacture. Nashville 

 is one of the greatest hardwood producing 

 centers in the countrj-. It is in the heart 

 of the red cedar district of Tennessee, and 

 most of the concerns there handle large 

 quantities of this wood. The Cumberland 

 river is an important adjunct in the carry- 

 ing on of these great enterprises; it taps the- 

 splendid forests of Tennessee and Kentucky, 

 and most of the timber is floated down in- 

 the log to the mills at Nashville. The city 

 has splendid- railroad connections, which en- 

 able it to handle the finished product to- 

 all parts of the country with dispatch. 



MAIN FACTORY, NASHVILLE HARDWOOD 

 FLOORING COMPANY. 



riLINi; HARDWOOD, NASHVILLE HARD- 

 WOOD FLOORING COMPANY. 



EXECUTIVE STAFF, NASHVILLE HARD- 

 WOOD FLOORING COMPANY. 



