WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



299 



Col. Sellars operated a circular saw mill at Tenmile be- 

 tween 1889 and 1892. 



Alton Lumber Company erected a portable mill at Alton 

 in the spring of 1891 and cut the timber from 1,200 acres of 

 land on Buckhannon river and Laurel Fork of French creek. 

 This company, with offices in Buckhannon, is now engaged in 

 the wholesale lumber business and is interested also in the manu- 

 facture of lumber in Randolph and Barbour counties. 



Smoot Lumber Company operated a portable mill at Ten- 

 mile from about 1892 to 1898. 



Fell and Stranahan sawed the timber from a tract of 600 

 acres near Tenmile between the years 1893 and 1895. 



Isherwood and Cody sawed about 15,000,000 feet of lumber 

 from their own. lands on Panther Fork between 1900 and 1908. 



Others who have operated portable mills are Crosby and 

 Beckley Lumber Company on Big run, near Alton; Jenkins 

 and Cochran near the village of Canaan; J. H. Grogg on 

 French creek and other Buckhannon river tributaries; William 

 Burner near the town of Sago; and Phillips Brothers on the 

 Buckhannon river from Sago to Alton. 



The 3 principal lines of steel railroad built in the 

 county for hauling logs and lumber are the 17 mile line built 

 up the Left Fork of Buckhannon river by the Alexander 

 Lumber Company in 1890; the 15 mile line built by G. F. 

 Stockert on Panther Fork and Middle Fork waters; and the 

 recently constructed line from Frenchton to the Kanawha river 

 in use by the Buchanan Lumber Company. 



The principal operation now in the county is that of the 

 Croft Lumber Company with a single band mill located at 

 Alexander. 



Not fewer than 30 small mills, with capacities ranging from 

 1,000 to 8,000 feet a day, are operating principally in the 

 southern end of the county and along the Coal and Coke rail- 

 road in the central sections. 



Present Forest Conditions. 



There are 4 or 5 virgin forest areas, aggregating 

 about 1,500 acres, still remaining in the southern end of the 

 county, principally in the Kanawha river basin. ]\Ibst of the 



