264 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



The dwelling houses and out-buildings of all the pioneer 

 settlers were constructed of logs for the first 50 years and only 

 a few were built of sawed lumber for many years after that 

 time. One or two water saw mills manufactured a meager sup- 

 ply of lumber for the farmers of the upper Tygarts Valley in 

 an early day. According to Maxwell's "History of Randolph 

 County," "The first saw mill in Mingo was built by Edward 

 "Woods and John Smiley at the Laurel Thicket, on H. C. Tolly's 

 place near Valley Head, in 1822. The wagon which hauled the 

 irons for the mill was the first that crossed the mountain to 

 Mingo. It was driven by Augustus Woods, who cut the road 

 as he came. ' ' This was one of the first saw mills in the county, 

 and perhaps the only one for several years. Martin's list of 

 1835 gives 1 saw mill in Randolph county. 



From about 1865 to 1895 there were a great many logs 

 floated on the Cheat and Tygarts Valley rivers. The first tim- 

 ber sold in the county was taken out by water. Some of the 

 best poplar, ash, cherry and black walnut went in this way. 

 Pardee and Curtin Lumber Company of Grafton got a large 

 percentage of the logs floated on the Tygarts Valley, and those 

 floated on the Cheat went largely to Rowlesburg and Point 

 Marion. Dewing and Sons sawed some of the first spruce that 

 was cut in West Virginia on a large circular saw mill located 

 at Point Marion. CoL A. H. Winchester, with headquarters at 

 Cheat Bridge, superintended the cutting of timber on the com- 

 pany's extensive holdings on Shavers Fork from about 1888 to 

 1896. The logs made the long journey from almost the head 

 to the mouth of Cheat river. 



The steam saw mill industry began in the year 1878 when 

 a portable mill was brought from Virginia and put in operation 

 on Dry Fork of Cheat. Others soon followed this and by the 

 year 1890 several were running in different parts of the county. 



A more active industry followed the building of the rail- 

 roads which made accessible the great coniferous and hardwood 

 forests. The principal railroad lines were built approximately 

 as follows: 



