Standard gauge,
Headquarters: Columbia, MS
Mill Location: Jamestown, MS (Marion County)
Mill Capacity: 50,000 ft/day
Years of Operation: 1907-1915
Miles Operated: 4 miles in 1909
Locomotives Owned: 1
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Equipment:
9 log cars, 1 McGiffert loader
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Click Map for Larger Version |
History
by Gil Hoffman:
The
Austin Lumber Company was incorporated at Columbia, Marion County, on
March 20, 1907, by Butler McClanahan, of Eastabuchie; Nathan B. Noble, of
Bay St. Louis, and Charles J. Welch, of Eastabuchie, with authorized capital
stock of $150,000. On July 14, 1908, the charter was amended to raise the
capital stock to $200,000. Officers of the company were: N. B. Noble,
president; C. J. Welch, vice president, and James T. Noble (son of N. B.
Noble), secretary and treasurer. The company took its name from the maiden
name of N. B. Noble's wife and Jamestown was named after James Noble.
Construction
of a sawmill began in 1907, but because of the panic of that year,
completion was delayed until May 1909. The mill was equipped with a 14-inch
Allis-Chalmers band saw and had a cutting capacity of 50,000 feet per day,
cutting only longleaf yellow pine. The planing mill contained four machines.
The mill was located one mile from the Pearl River which enabled
manufactured lumber to be barged to the Gulf for export.
In
February 1915, the mill cut out and closed.
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