East Union Mills
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unknown gauge, iron rail Headquarters: Brookhaven, MS Mill Location: S. Brookhaven, MS ( Lincoln County) Mill Capacity: 15,000 ft/day Years of Operation: 1890-1895 Miles Operated: 1.25 miles Locomotives Owned: 1 |
Equipment:
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History by Gil Hoffman: The East Union Mills was incorporated at Brookhaven, Lincoln County, on January 23, 1890 by John B. Nalty and John L. White with authorized capital stock of $20,000. In January and October 1890, Nalty bought about 400 acres of longleaf yellow pine timber near Fair Oaks Springs, on the south side of Keys Creek. A circular sawmill with a cutting capacity of about 15,000 feet per day was built on this tract and logged by a short tram road laid with iron rails. The product was longleaf yellow pine lumber shipped to Brookhaven in wagons. Nalty had charge of operations of this mill while White operated the company's other mill near Johnston Station, in Pike County. This latter mill was bought in December 1891 from the Sutton brothers. Both of these mills cut out in 1895, after which Nalty moved his logging operations to Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, 50 miles south of Brookhaven. With the move to Louisiana, White severed his connection with the company. In September 1890 the East Union Mills built a large lumber shed on the Illinois Central at the south edge of Brookhaven. By 1897 this shed had been supplemented by a planing mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet per day. Five years later this planing mill was producing 100,000 feet per day and employing 100 men. It worked up stocks from both the company's own sawmills and those bought from other mills. John Bernard Nalty was born in Brookhaven on May 23, 1857. In 1879, at age 22, he went into the grocery business in Brookhaven and soon began handling bills of lumber. This led him to buy his own sawmill in July 1886, a small circular mill mill located about four miles southeast of Brookhaven near the Cam Community. This mill cut railroad orders from longleaf yellow pine and was logged by ox teams. Nalty was actually involved in the day-to-day operations of this mill. It lasted until 1890 when it was moved eastward two miles to the vicinity of Fair Oaks Springs.
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| ROSTER by Gil Hoffman: Motive
Power One locomotive, purchased secondhand. |
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For more information contact Tony Howe at howe6818@bellsouth.net or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net