CHAPTER IV. 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY IN EASTERN NORTH 

 CAROLINA. 



HISTOEICAL SKETCH. 



Until within the past two decades the production of lumber in 

 eastern North Carolina, except for local use, had been small, owing 

 to the great distance from general markets and the limited demand 

 for the liard pines. Wilmington, as early as the middle of the 

 last century, had considerable trade in long-leaf pine lumber with 

 the AVest Indies and Eugland, and this trade continued in a lim- 

 ited way until the first part of the present century, when with the 

 use of steam in sawing the output was largely increased. Mr. 

 James Sprunt, in his Inform at ion Concerning Wilmington, N. C," 

 says that the first steam saw-mill established in Wilmington was 

 erected on the western side of the Cape Fear riyer by a person 

 named Mazerretti in the year 1818. 



For a great many years after this AVilmington had a large and 

 growing trade in lumber with the West Indies, but of late years 

 the competition of Sayannah, Mobile and Pensacola, which are 

 much nearer to these islands, has preyented any farther expansion 

 of the industry in that direction. Wilmington has always had a 

 large trade in lumber with the Middle and New England States, 

 wdiere the long-leaf pine has been largely used in ship-building, etc. 



In the last few years, owing to the increased demand for Southern 

 hard pine, the number and capacity of the mills at Wilmington 

 haye been more than doubled. The logs for supplying this demand 

 come from the counties along the Cape Fear, Black and North East 

 riyers and their tributaries, along which lie well-timbered cypress, 

 long-leaf pine and loblolly pine lands. The territory drained by 

 these streams is about 5,000 square miles, oyer one-fourth of which 

 area is timbered with long-leaf pine that can be floated to Wil- 

 mington. 



As early as 1830 both Newbern and Washington had large trades 

 in long-leaf pine lumber with foreign ports, mostly in the West 



