Transforming the Appalachian countryside: railroads, deforestation, and social change in West Virginia, 1880-1920

748 Pages·1998·4.21 MB·English

by  Ronald L. Lewis

Transforming the Appalachian Countryside
title: : Railroads, Deforestation, and Social
Change in West Virginia, 1880-1920
author: Lewis, Ronald L.
publisher: University of North Carolina Press
isbn10 | asin: 0807824054
print isbn13: 9780807824054
ebook isbn13: 9780807862971
language: English
West Virginia--Economic conditions, West
Virginia--Social conditions, West Virginia--
subject
Environmental conditions, Industrialization-
-West Virginia.
publication date: 1998
lcc: HC107.W5L39 1998eb
ddc: 338.9754
West Virginia--Economic conditions, West
Virginia--Social conditions, West Virginia--
subject:
Environmental conditions, Industrialization-
-West Virginia.
Page iii
Transforming the Appalachian Countryside
Railroads, Deforestation, and Social Change in West
Virginia, 1880-1920
Ronald L. Lewis
Page iv
© 1998 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
This book was set in Monotype Bulmer
by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Book design by April Leidig-Higgins
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lewis, Ronald L., 1940 Transforming the Appalachian
countryside: railroads, deforestation, and social change in
West Virginia, 18801920 / Ronald L. Lewis.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-8078-2405-4 (cloth: alk. paper).
ISBN 0-8078-4706-2 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. West VirginiaEconomic conditions. 2. West Virginia
Social conditions. 3. West VirginiaEnvironmental
conditions. 4. IndustrializationWest Virginia. I. Title.
HC107.W5L39 1998 97-36616
338.9754dc21 CIP
02 01 00 99 98 5 4 3 2 1
Page v
To Susan and Jennifer
Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
One. The Virgin Forest and the Backcounty Economy 15
Two. The Touch of Capital: Railroads, Timber, and 45
Economic Development of the Backcounties
Three. Land, Capital, and Timber Operations at the 81
Periphery
Four. Making Capital Secure: Law and the Industrial 103
Transformation of West Virginia
Five. Workers in the Woods 131
Six. Ethnicity, Exploitation, and Social Conflict 165
Seven. Connecting the Periphery: Commercialization of 185
the Countryside
Eight. "New Men" versus "Old Men": Political Economy 211
and the County Seat Wars
Nine. The Market Revolution and the Decline of 235
Agriculture
Ten. If Trees Could Cuss: Environmental Destruction and 263
the Beginnings of Restoration
Notes 293
Bibliography 317
Index 339
Page ix
Illustrations
Virgin spruce forest at headwaters of Cherry River, 17
Greenbrier County, 1912
Log raft and ark on the Guyandotte River, Lincoln County, 39
ca. 1900
Logjam on the Elk River near Sutton, Braxton County, 40
1898
Arks and crew of log drivers tied up along the Greenbrier 42
River near Cass, Pocahontas County, 1898
Clearing the forest to build Davis, Tucker County, 1883 94
Panorama of Davis, Tucker County, ca. 1909 95
Babcock Lumber Company, Davis, Tucker County, 1909 96
Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company Mill, 97
Richwood, Nicholas County, 1924
Old Court: Justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court of 113
Appeals, 186390
New Court: Justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court 115
of Appeals, 18891909
Moment of relaxation in a woods camp, probably 134
Randolph County, ca. 1900
Woods crew near Bartow, Pocahontas County, ca. 1910 141
Snaking logs near Bayard, Grant County, 1903 142
A giant of the forest, Nicholas County, ca. 1920 143
Felled white oak, Nicholas County, 1914 144
Shay engine and log loader in woods 145
Page x
Steam skidder logging out the Blackwater River Canyon, 146
Tucker County, ca. 1910
Log train near Dobbin, Grant County, ca. 1910 147
Wreck of the Lucy Belle near Lokelia, Pocahontas County 148
Unloading logs at Horton, Randolph County 151
Standard mill pond and jack ladder to the mill 152
Family at a portable camp near Helvetia, Randolph 160
County, 1900
African American and Italian immigrant track crew near 168
Cass, Pocahontas County
The Star Restaurant, Whitmer, Randolph County, ca. 1910 188
Thaddeus M. Fowler's rendering of Parsons, Tucker 220
County, 1905
Placing county records in a temporary courthouse in 221
Parsons, Tucker County, 1893
Thaddeus M. Fowler's rendering of Elkins, Randolph 226
County, 1897
Destruction of vegetation and soil by fires in the Canaan 267
Valley, 1912
Deforested rim of Blackwater River Canyon, Tucker 270
County, ca. 1910
Deforestation and logging roads in Blackwater River 271
Canyon accelerated erosion, ca. 1910
Trench on Meadow River Lumber Company lands, 272