Blue Lake Lumber Co. 1899-1904

Cotton Belt Lumber Co. 1904-1910

Sunflower & Eastern Railway 1901-1930

Standard gauge, 56-lb. rail Headquarters: Little Rock, AR Mill Location: Blue Lake, 3 miles east of Parchman, MS (Sunflower County) Mill Capacity: 50,000 ft/day  Years of Operation: Blue Lake Lumber Co. 1899-1904                                   Cotton Belt Lumber Co. 1904-ca. 1910 Miles Operated:  Locomotives Owned: 2 in 1910	Other Equipment:	Click Map for Larger Version
History by Tony Howe: On June 28, 1899, the Blue Lake Lumber Co., composed of Emily M. Roots and H. A. Bowman, leased 3.5 miles of 56# rail from the Y&MV.  On July 31, 1901 this railroad was incorporated as the Sunflower & Eastern Railway. On June 9, 1905, the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad acquired the entire capital stock of the Sunflower & Eastern Ry. About 1906-07, it was extended east to Webb, MS. Y&MV petitioned the ICC to abandon the branch on Oct. 2, 1930, and approval was granted on Oct 14, 1930. The Cotton Belt Lumber Co., with headquarters in Chicago, IL, purchased the property of Blue Lake Lumber Co. in November 1904. This included the sawmill, 5 miles of railroad, and 1800 acres of hardwood and cypress. Cotton Belt Lumber Co. also had a sawmill at Webb with a 25,000 ft/day capacity and 6000 acres of timber in operation since December 1903. Both mills and all property were in the hands of the United States Lumber & Cotton Co. by 1909.       From American Lumberman Oct. 6, 1900.... The past year has witnessed the advent of many new hardwood mills throughout the south- country, owing to the attractive prices which all lines of hardwood commanded during 1899. The Blue Lake Lbr. Co., with mills in Mississippi, on the Y&MV branch of the IC, below Memphis, Tenn., with selling headquarters at Little Rock, Ark., is one of the new comers, which promises to be one of the representative plants manufacturing cypress lumber, oak and ash.      E. H. Roots, of Little Rock, is the owner of the company. An investment approaching $100,000 has been made in timber lands and a mechanical plant in Mississippi, the lands being choice cypress, oak, ash and some of the other standard hardwoods. The mill has been running for several months and the company now has about 1,500,000 feet of dry lumber on sticks. Recently the saw mill was rebuilt and strengthened and active sawing will be resumed in a short time, when the company will pay special attention to its cypress timber.     In the near future the Blue Lake Lbr. Co. Will have a reputation in hardwood lumber circles.   American Lumberman 8-31-1901 p.33... “The Blue Lake Lbr. Co., at Blue Lake, capital $50,000, the incorporators being E.M. , F.E. and M.(?) Roots.”
ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:

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