Hiwannee Lumber Co. (1904-1912)

Smith-Payne Lumber Co. (1912-1913)

Brown Lumber Co. (1913-1918)

Hiwannee & Tombigbee Railroad (1906-1918)

36" gauge, 30 and 35-lb rail, converted to standard gauge 1906

Headquarters: Hiwannee, MS (Wayne County)

Mill Capacity: 50,000 ft/day

Years of Operation: 1904-1918

Miles Operated: 12.5

Locomotives Owned: 4

Equipment

6 log cars in 1906

1 Clyde Rapid Loader puchased 3-12-1915

Click Map for Larger Version

History by Gil Hoffman:

Hiwannee Mill 

The Hiwannee Lumber Company (of Mississippi) was incorporated at Hiwannee, Wayne County, in May 1904 by David N. McLean, Hiram C. Fonde and others with capital stock of $50,000. In return for $24,000 in capital stock in the company, D. N. McLean transferred his mill at Hiwannee and timber holdings to the Hiwannee Lumber Company on May 21, 1904. McLean also became the president of the company. The McLean mill had been originally owned by Wetherbee & Huggins and was logged by oxen. In August 1904 the company bought five miles of rail, a locomotive and six log cars from Hubbard Brothers, of Mobile, and installed a narrow gauge logging railroad. 

On February 2, 1906 the Hiwannee Lumber Company (of Ohio) purchased the assets of the Hiwannee Lumber Company (of Mississippi) for $215,000. The purchase included a sawmill and logging railroad at Hiwannee, Wayne County and about 9,000 acres of timber in Wayne and Clarke counties. A new mill was built at Hiwannee, which in 1910 had a cutting capacity of 50,000 feet per day. This mill cut shortleaf pine exclusively. The logging railroad acquired from the Mississippi company was narrow gauge, but was changed to standard gauge about May 1906. 

On April 21, 1910 the company was placed in receivership and on June 15, 1912 its assets, including the Hiwannee & Tombigbee Railroad, were sold to the Smith-Payne Lumber Company. 

Hiwannee & Tombigbee Railroad

 The Hiwannee & Tombigbee Railroad was chartered in Mississippi on August 24, 1906 by Adolph Heller, of Youngstown, Ohio; E. L. Russell, of Mobile, Alabama; D. C. Stewart, of Warren, Ohio; C. A. Pigford, of Meridian, Mississippi, and S. M. Lebaron, of Hiwannee, Mississippi, with authorized capital stock of $10,000. The charter called for construction of a line of railroad from Hiwannee eastward to Womack Hill, on the Tombigbee River in Choctaw County, Alabama.

Shubuta Mill 

On April 15, 1909, the Hiwannee Lumber Company (of Ohio) purchased the assets of the Kaupp Lumber Company, at Shubuta, Clarke County, including the Shubuta & Southwestern Railroad. The Shubuta mill cut longleaf yellow pine. 

On July 8, 1911, the Hiwannee Lumber Company sold the Shubuta operation, including the sawmill and the Shubuta & Southwestern Railroad, to the Brownlee Lumber Company, of Shubuta.

Smith-Payne Lumber Co.

The Smith-Payne Lumber Company was incorporated at Pelahatchie, Rankin County, in May 1911 by P. L. Baird, S. P. Payne, L. J. Smith and others with capital stock of $30,000. Control of the company soon passed to H. A. and John Lockwood, who bought the assets of the Hiwannee Lumber Company, at Hiwannee, Wayne County, on June 15, 1912. Included in the purchase were lands in Clarke and Wayne counties and the Hiwannee & Tombigbee Railroad. The sawmill had a cutting capacity of 75,000 feet per day. 

On March 23, 1913 the company sold its sawmill at Hiwannee, timber holdings in Clarke and Wayne counties and the Hiwannee & Tombigbee Railroad to the Brown Lumber Company, of Fordyce, Arkansas.

Brown Lumber Co.

On March 20, 1913 J. M. Brown, W. H. Fields and J. H. Meek purchased the sawmill plant and timber holdings in Wayne and Clarke counties of the Smith-Payne Lumber Company, at Hiwannee, Wayne County, together with the Hiwannee & Tombigbee Railroad. The purchase price was $143,000. On July 7, 1914 J. M. Brown et al. transferred these holdings to the Brown Lumber Company, of Fordyce, AR. C. E. Tredick was vice president and manager of the plant. 

In June 1915 the sawmill was destroyed by fire. As replacement, a new mill with a cutting capacity of about 100,000 feet per day was built and placed in operation the first week in 1916. 

The sawmill cut out in late 1918 and the mill equipment was sold to the Turner Supply Company, of Mobile, AL, which offered it for sale in January 1919.

Also see pages on Shubuta & Southwestern and Brownlee Lumber. 

 

 

  

 

  

 
 

 

  

 

  

 
 

 

  

 

  

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

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For more information contact Tony Howe at howe6818@bellsouth.net or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net