Ten Mile Lumber Co.
Standard gauge, 30, 40 and 60-lb rail Headquarters: Mill Location: Ten Mile, MS (Stone County, was Harrison Co. then) Mill Capacity: 75,000 ft/day in 1910 Years of Operation: 1899-1922 Miles Operated: 25 miles in 1910 12 miles in 1917 Locomotives Owned: 5 |
Also see: L. N. Dantzler Lumber Co.
Equipment: 3 locomotives and 60 cars in 1910 |
Click Map for Larger Version |
History by Gil Hoffman and Tony Howe: On
February 15, 1899, James R. Pratt and J. R. Hill, both from Calera,
Alabama, purchased the sawmill plant of W. H. Merritt, located on the Gulf
& Ship Island about a mile south of Perkinston, Harrison County. The
price was $15,320. Pratt and Hill took in a third partner, George R.
Burton, and operated the Merritt mill as a co-partnership under the name
“Ten Mile Lumber Company.” The cutting capacity of this mill in
September 1900, was 60,000 feet daily. A planing mill was also operated.
The mill produced longleaf yellow pine lumber. The mill address was
originally Perkinston, which was later changed to “Ten Mile.” The
Ten Mile Lumber Company was incorporated at Gulfport, Harrison County, on
November 14, 1903, by J. R. Pratt, G. R. Burton and J. H. Hill with
authorized capital stock of $210,000. The books of the company were opened
on January 1, 1904, and the assets of the partnership purchased on January 29, 1904 for $210,000, the amount of the capital stock. In
1909 the Ten Mile mill burned, and Pratt, Hill & Burton leased the
sawmill at nearby Millview for 12 months until the mill was rebuilt. In June 1910, the entire assets were sold to the L. N. Dantzler Lumber Company, of Moss Point, and operated as a Dantzler subsidiary under the original name. The sale included a new 75,000 feet capacity sawmill, planing mill, dry kilns, logging railroad and stumpage. The mill operated until January 1922. In
January
1937, a new mill was rebuilt on the site of the old one, and operated until
February 1949. It was supplied by logs by trucks, and did not operate a logging
railroad. The office was retained by the Dantzler Lumber Co. and they
oversaw their timber holdings and operated as a tree farm from 1949 until
selling out to International Paper Co. in 1966. IP used the old office until
just a few years ago.
|
||
Click Map for Larger Version |
|
|
|
|
View looking north at the Ten Mile mill probably ca 1915. A locomotive is barely visible on the trestle over the log pond at right. |
|
The new Dantzler mill built at Ten Mile in 1937. |
|
ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:
?
2T Shay
Lima
410
9-1892
26
3-9x8
38000 Purchased
from Frost Shingle Co. #410, Withey, MI. First
used at Millview, MS. Sold
to Napoleon Cypress Co., Ltd., Ratliff, LA, later at Napoleonville, LA; to
Bomer-Blanks Lumber Co. #4, Port Barre, LA. ?
4-6-0
Altoona
17x22
86000 Purchased
secondhand. Built
as Pernnsylvania R.R. #? Traded
to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. #1231, Birmingham, AL, on
5-18-1918 as partial payment on Baldwin c/n 33860; to Tishomingo Gravel
Co., Morrison, MS, on 3-12-1919.
221
4-6-0
Rhode Island
2362
8-1890
55
18x24
108000 Purchased
from Georgia Car & Locomotive Co. #234, Atlanta, GA, on 1-7-1913. Cost
$4,500. Built
as Macon Construction Co. #221, Macon, GA; to Macon & Birmingham #221,
Macon, GA, on 5-25-1896; to Georgia Southern & Florida 1st #133,
Macon, GA, on 11-3-1897; to Macon & Birmingham #221, Macon, GA; to
Georgia Car & Locomotive Co. #234. Transferred
to Vancleave Lumber Co. #221, Vancleave, MS.
222? 2-8-0
Baldwin
33860
10-1909
38
16x20
86000
Purchased from Birmingham Rail & Locomotive
Co., Birmingham, AL, on 5-18-1918. Cost
$10,800 with $4,000 allowed in trade on Altoona 4-6-0. Built
as Dunbar & Wausaukee #6, Dunbar, WI; to Birmingham Rail &
Locomotive Co. Baldwin
class
10-26 E 343 102
No Data Purchased
from Bond Lumber Co. #102, Bond, MS, on 7-21-1918. Cost $5,000. Note
1: One locomotive was purchased from W. H. Merritt,
Perkinston, MS, on 3-15-1899.
|
For more information contact Tony Howe at howe6818@bellsouth.net or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net