99-14NC An 1895 Pennsylvania Saw Mill Note CardThe beginning of this operation dates 10 January 12, 1889, when William Howard and Allen Perley of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, purchased about 16,000 acres of timber.Three months after the timber purchase, Howard and Perley contracted with a jobber to cut the timber, peel the bark, deliver the bark to the tannery, bank the logs adjacent to Young Woman's Creek at Gleasonton, Pennsylvania, and build a railroad to service the operation and their new mill. The logs would be driven down the Suquehanna to Williamsport each spring. The new railroad was named the North Bend & Kettle Creek Railroad, owned by Howard and Perley. The new mill at Gleasonton, shown in this painting, was built when the original mill burned down in 1891. This mill had a tremendous log pond which was to the left of the scene shown in the painting. The mill plans called for it to cut 60- to 120,000-ft. of Hemlock and hardwoods daily, and to employ 60–80 men. Unlike most sawmills of the 1890s, Howard and Perley painted their mill. The color was barn red with white trim. The view in this painting is looking north. The locomotive is Howard and Perley's Shay No. 2; the year is 1895. Today there is little evidence of the pond, mill, and lumber yard. A large, level field identifies the location. (Thanks to Mr. Harold Weber, Weber's Saw Shop, Pennsburg, PA, for information used in this painting and story.) |
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