Greene County Logging Trains

Greene County Logging Trains

During the latter part of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th sawmills flourished in Greene County where virgin forest of yellow pine timber was in abundance. When these saw mills moved in, towns sprang up and grew rapidly, for a time. Some of the sawmill towns were Avera, Blodgett, Grafton, Bothwell, Piave, Chicora, Royce, and Leaf. When the timber was all cut in a particular area these mills would move on to new area.

At first citizens who lived near the rivers floated rafts of logs down the river to saw mills on the Gulf Coast. When they cut all the timber near the rivers, and were no longer able to do this, then sawmills were built in communities and other means were used to get the lumber to market.

These sawmills found it profitable to purchase locomotives to haul their timber to their mills. Below is a listing of the Locomotives used in Greene County. These descriptions are found on (shaylocomotives.com.) The patent for the locomotive was held by Ephraim Shay and the Locomotives were built by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio. These locomotives were gear driven and moved slowly hauling logs. Some had special wheels were logs could be used as rails.

Some of the lumber companies were:

Virgin Pine Lumber Company, Piave, Ms., (L. O. Crosby)

Blodgett Lumber Co., Piave, Ms. (John Blodgett)

C. & R. Lumber Company, Blodgett, Ms.

J. M Griffin Lumber Company, Blodgett, Ms.

J. P. Griffin Lumber Company, Avera, Ms.

Turner Lumber Company, Avera, MS.

Green Lumber Co., Avera and Leaf

J. J. Newman Lumber Company, Royce, (near Leaf), Ms.

Green Veneer Company, Leaf, MS.

Bothwell Lumber Company, Bothwell, Ms.

Cowan Brothers Lumber Company, Grafton, Ms.