WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



171 



The Lumber Industry. 



A record of the part which the forests of Kanawha county 

 have played in the activities of its residents, from the first set- 

 tlement made by William Morris in 1774 to the present day, 

 would require a volume. Important as were the products of the 

 forests of the county, however, affecting the financial welfare, 

 the occupation and the very character of almost every citizen, 

 we find only here and ihere a brief reference to the reduction of 

 the forests by early settlers or to the development of a later lum- 

 ber industry in the papers and books that contain a record of 

 the history of this region. 



Much of the Kanawha valley was cleared and settled thickly 

 before the timber had any considerable market value. In these 

 days small quantities were used about the dwellings of the set- 

 tlers but the amount was insignificant when compared v^th the 

 enormous stand. One of the first uses made of timber, aside 

 from that just mentioned, was in the manufacture of boxes, tubs 

 and hogsheads in which large quantities of salt were sold from 

 the furnaces above Charleston as early as the year 1808, and in 

 the construction of log rafts and flat-boats on which the salt was 

 taken down the river. Many of the receptacles and flat-boats, 

 however, were made from timber outside the county. 



Charleston has been the center of an enormous lumber in- 

 dustry for many years. A report of A. M. Scott, resident U. S. 

 engineer in charge of the river at Charleston, shows the quantity 

 of forest products that passed through Lock No. 6, four miles be- 

 low Charleston, for the year ending June 30th, 1892, as follows : 



Timber, 39,585,000 feet. 

 Tan-bark, 590 cords. 

 Eailroad ties, 924,650. 

 Hoop-poles, 980 000. 

 Shingles, 2,750,000. 



The report also shows that 44,400,000 feet of logs and lum- 

 ber, 380,000 cross-ties, 1,405,000 oak staves and 240 cords of tan- 

 baTk came down Elk river during the same year. 



Answering a recent inquiry concerning the past lumber 



