The lumber business, from logging hardwoods to finished building material, is an important industry in southern Appalachia. Studies of logging techniques, lumbering practices, the controversy over conservation and exploitation of this vast natural resource have generated much debate and study. The following are selected materials especially useful in researching the lumber industry, logging, forests and forestry, and conservation of natural resources.

Browse our Suggested Reading List for books of interest.

Manuscripts

Robert Bell Collection
Includes photographs pertaining to lumber operations in the Limestone Cove area of Washington and Unicoi Counties, Tenn.

Burton-Manning Collection
This collection of folklore and oral history recordings includes audio recordings of individuals discussing logging practices and logging folk tales. Restriction: Recordings may only be duplicated with the permission of the donor.

Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway Records
Extensive company records include material related to lumber companies and logging operations in the region for whom the railroad provided transportation.

George Evan Davis Papers
Consists of company records of the George Evan Davis Lumber Company, Bristol, Va., which operated from 1903-55 and includes correspondence with customers, building contractors, lumber wholesalers, manufacturers, creditors, and suppliers; clippings; ledger (1905-09); notebook (1904-06); a history of Davis (1981).

East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad Records
This extensive collection of company records includes material related to lumber companies and logging operations in the region for whom the railroad provided transportation.

Mr. & Mrs. G. O. Edwards Photographs
Contains photographs depicting the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company operations in various Appalachian locations, c. 1910s-40s, focusing on housing for workers, trains hauling logs, and loggers and officials of the lumber company.

William Henley Nelson Family Papers
This collection of local history and family papers includes photographs of Ripshin Mountain logging camp (Carter County, Tenn.), c. 1880.

Pike Hardwood Lumber Company Records
Established for the purpose of "buying, selling, and manufacturing of timber and lumber" products in eastern Kentucky, the collection consists of a ledger of this Pikeville, Ky.-based company, containing company constitution and by-laws, meeting minutes, lists of stockholders and directors, and miscellaneous expense accounts, c. 1905.

Charles C. Tiller Photographs
Contains photographs depicting logging operations and camp life at the W. H. Ritter Lumber Company camps, chiefly those in Dickenson County, Va. in the 1920s-30s.

Whiting Lumber Company Records
This Maryland-based timber company operated saw mills and harvested timber in Avery and Watauga Counties, N. C. and in Johnson County, Tenn. from 1915 until filing for bankruptcy in 1933. Records cover the period 1928-33 and include correspondence, a copy of its' certificate of incorporation, purchase agreements, and a minute book of the board of directors.

Appalachian Photographic Archive

The Appalachian Photographic Archive includes photographs relating to logging and tree harvesting in southern Appalachia.

Appalachian Files

Includes files on Conservation of Natural Resources, Forests and Forestry, Logging, and Lumber trade--Appalachian Region, Southern.

Suggested Reading from Special Collections

The following selected titles are drawn from our Special Collections and are suggested as sources for additional information on logging, the lumber industry, and the forests of Appalachia. For a complete listing, consult Sherrod Library Online Catalog.

Buxton, Barry M. and Malinda L. Crutchfield, eds. The Great Forest: an Appalachian story. 1985.

Clarkson, Roy B. Tumult on the mountains: lumbering in West Virginia, 1770-1920. 1964.

Hale, Peter M. The Woods and Timbers of North Carolina... 1883.

Horn, Stanley F. This fascinating lumber business. 1951.

Reedy, Dennis. The W. M. Ritter Lumber Company family history book. 1983.

Ritter, W. M., Lumber Company, Inc. The romance of Appalachian hardwood lumber; 1890--fifty years of service--1940. 1940.

Schenck, Carl Alvin. The birth of forestry in America: Biltmore Forest School, 1898-1913. 1974.

United States. President. Message from the President of the United States transmitting a report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the Southern Appalachian region. 1902.

Educational Media

Harvesting the Hardwoods: Appalachian Logging Camp Life, a 30-minute videotape, describes logging camp life in the 1920s and 1930s. It is available for loan from the Archives.