LUMBER EESOUECES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 463 



Lumber production of Pennsylvania, 



In a report made by the State Board of Centennial Managers,* the 

 following statements are made concerning the timber resources of this 

 State : 



Pennsylvania at an early day became prominent in the production of lumber. TLe 

 pine forests of the Susquehanna region have long been drawn upon for contributions to 

 the lumber wants of the country, the supply thence obtained, being rafted down the 

 Susquehanna River, either sawed or in logs, to eastern markets. Later, the extensive 

 pine forests of the Allegheny Valley were invaded, and Pittsburgh, by means of the 

 rafting facilities aiforded by the Allegheny River, became a great lumber market, sup- 

 plying the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys with best quantities of pine lumber. Other sec- 

 tions of the State, as well as the two prominent sections above mentioned, have also long 

 furnished considerable supplies of hard-wood lumber, such as walnut, maple, cherry, 

 hickory, and oak. Since about 1850, the manufacture of shocks, for use in the West 

 India sugar trade, has been an extensive branch of the lumber interest of Pennsylvani;i, 

 the oak timber required being ])riucipally found on the eastern and western slopes and 

 on the summit itself of the Allegheny Mountains. Although a large part of the 

 Allegheny Valley has been almost denuded of its pine forests, and some portions of the 

 Susquehanna lumber region have shared a similar fate, it may be said that the State is 

 still heavily timbered, and that many years must elajise before its forests will dis- 

 appear. 



A more detailed account of the lumber business of the Allegheny re: 

 gion is given by Mr. Samuel P. Johnson, historical sketch of Warren 

 County, in EgWs History of Pennsylvania:^ 



Almost the exclusive occupation of the first settlers was the manufacture of pine 

 lumber. This continued, with some exceptions, for the first twenty years. Still, very 

 early in the century, necessity compelled the cultivation of the soil to some extent, 

 even by the lumbermen. * * * The northern part of the county, generally covered 

 ■with hard wood, beech and maple predominating, was found to be well adapted to both 

 grazing and grain-raising. * * *■ The lumbering business, commenced nearly with 

 the i)resent century, exhibited its infancy and primitive character, for many years, iu 

 water-mills and single upright saws, driven by overshot or flutter wheels, working 

 only at certain stages of water, and subject to suspension by ice, flood, and droughts. A 

 mill that could cut 100,000 feet per annum was considered a good investment. Float- 

 ing lumber to market in rafts was commenced by Daniel Jackson on the Couewango, and 

 by Darius and Joseph Mead on the Brokenstraw in 1801. For halting and tying up 

 rafts, halyard and hickory-spliut cables, were mostly used for several j'ears, the latter 

 being manufactured by George Gregg, on the Brokenstraw. 



In 1805, a new trade sprung up in the boating of seasoned lumber from the Broken- 

 straw to New Orleans. * » » Such lumber brought there $40 per thousand feet. 

 From this small beginning the lumber business * » * acquired huge dimensions, 

 until at the spring-time freshets these streams would seem almost covered for miles 

 with floating rafts. Pittsburg, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville, Saint Louit, and other 

 intermediate towns had grown up in the mean time, and opened their markets for lum- 

 ber. Reaction-wheels, steam-mills, circular and gang saws had superseded the flutter- 

 wheel and the lonesome single saw, and millions of feet were now made where thou- 

 sands were before. 



Th s business reached and passed its summit between the years 1832 and 1840, when 

 it took a downward grade, and has now by the failure of the timber dwindled to a 

 mere fraction of what it was. * * » Perhaps the most important branch of 

 manufacturing industry of mcdern growth are the tanneries that within a few years 

 have discovered and commenced to utilize the immense forests of hemlock that covered 

 large portions of the county, especially that part east of the Allegheny River. Six 

 large tanneries and several small ones have recently commenced the consumption of 

 hemlock bark, and are making sad havoc of the native deer-parks. These establish- 

 ments require large investments of capital, and are now one of the most important 

 and successful industries of the county. 



The white pine of Pennsylvania, was somewhat limited to specific 

 ranges and elevations, and was found growing to great size in the north- 

 ern and central portions of the State. Potter County was peculiarly 



^Pennsylvania and the Centennial Exposition (1878), vol. I, jjart ii, p. 155. 

 ^Illustrated History of Pennsylvania (1876), p. 1135. 



