R.
S. Phillips
36" gauge, wood rail, changed to 30-lb steel rail
Headquarters: Ellisville
Mill Location: Mill 1- Ellisville, MS (Jones County)
Mill 2- Blackburn, MS (Jones County)
Mill Capacity: 40,000 ft/day
Years of Operation: 1892-ca 1903
Miles Operated:
Locomotives Owned: 2
|
Equipment:
|
Click Map for Larger Version |
History
by Gil Hoffman:
In the late 1880s Robert S. Phillips was operating a sawmill with a
logging railroad at Renfroe, Talladega County, Alabama. The shipping station
was Moxley, on the Talladega & Coosa Valley Railroad.
Phillips first appears around Ellisville on March 15, 1892, when he
purchased 760 acres of timber for $4,560 from William McPherson and
associates, of Michigan. This timber was located from four to five miles
northwest of Ellisville around the Mt. Zion community. By May 1893 Phillips
had a sawmill in operation at Ellisville with a cutting capacity of 40,000
feet daily. On March 15, 1895, to supplement his original holdings, he
bought 1,187 acres of timber from J. H. Moores, of Lansing, Michigan, for
$7,122. This timber was on the eastern edge of the McPherson tract.
Laura A. Rogers became Phillips' partner on May 18, 1897, when she bought
a half interest in his mill and logging railroad. By that time the Phillips
mill had been moved to a point on the New Orleans & Northeastern, about
three and a half miles south of Ellisville, near the village of Tewanta.
This location was known as "Blackburn," after J. S. Blackburn who
had operated a mill about two miles to the south. Phillips last timber
purchase was on April 17, 1899 when he acquired 1,656 acres from Frederick
Muller for $12,419. This timber was generally southeast of the Phillips
mill.
R. S. Phillips died in Ellisville on June 25, 1906.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:
445 2T Shay Lima
445 6-1893
22 2-6x10
20000
Purchased new via Southern Equipment Co. Named "Charlie."
Built for wood rail. Shipped to Ellisville, MS. Renumb. #1. Sold to
Flood-Lyons Lumber Co., Narkeeta, MS, in 1908; to Birmingham Rail &
Locomotive Co., Birmingham, AL; to W. M. Carter Lumber Co., Laurel, MS, on
8-14-12; to J. H. Bostick, Ellisville Junction, MS, by 5-1913; to Monarch
Lumber Co. #1, Monarch, MS, about 1916, transferred to McLain, MS, in
early 1919; to Long Branch Lumber Co. #1, Tuckers Crossing, MS, on 5-4-20;
to W. M. Tomlin Lumber Co. #1, Bucatunna, MS, in 1926; to Brownlee Lumber
Co. #1, Chickasaw, AL, on 12-17-28
2 2T Shay Lima
613 6-1900
26 2-7x12
28000
Purchased new. Named "Mollie." Built for steel rail. Shipped
to Blackburn, MS. Sold to Mason Lumber Co., Gandsi, MS, on 5-21-03.
|
HOME
ABOUT US
LINKS
For more information contact
Tony Howe at tonyhowe76@yahoo.com
or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net
|