140 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



is said to have grown on Tanner and Lynch creeks in the north- 

 ern part of the county. Hemlock and pitch pine grew in small 

 quantities throughout the county, the former along streams and 

 in cool ravines, the latter on dry ridges. Red cedar grew in 

 abundance on Cedar creek and in smaller quantities in other 

 parts of the county. 



The Lumber Industry. 



Almost all the timber so far taken out of the county has 

 been floated and rafted down the Little Kanawha river. Some 

 has been sawed in recent years by portable mills and shipped on 

 the Coal & Coke Railroad which touches the southeastern side 

 of the county. 



The earliest settlements were made near the towns of Glen- 

 ville and Stumptown. All the lumber used about the premises 

 of the early settlers was sawed by hand or on sash saw mills, 

 about 7 of which were located at various points along the Little 

 Kanawha and its tributaries. The first manufactured lumber 

 shipped from the county was sawed on a sash saw mill near the 

 mouth of Cedar creek. None of the primitive vrater saw mills 

 have been running for 25 years. 



Rafting was begun on the river as early as 1840. This in- 

 dustri^ was carried on, at first, by owners of timberland lying 

 near the river and, to some extent, by other residents who cut 

 timber without regard to the ownership — a common practice 60 

 years ago in many parts of West Virginia. ]^.Iost of the rafts 

 were disposed of at Parkersburg and Cincinnati. The first raft 

 of logs taken out of the county was sold at Parkersburg for 25 

 dollars and 25 dollars' worth of goods. This raft was made up 

 of choice yellow poplar and would now bring not less than 

 $750.00. Yellow poplar was the principal timber rafted before 

 1860. Since then several companies have bought large quantities 

 of the heavier timbers, such as oak, beech and maple, and rafted 

 them out vnth the poplar, cucumber and basswood. Some of the 

 prominent operators along the river in more recent years were 

 "Wyant and Brannon, S. F. Whiting, Withers and Lorentz, and 

 Withers and Vandevender. The chief fioating done on the river 

 at present is by the Little Kanawha Log and Tie Company, 



