Log Rafting Down The Greenbrier River

 

The Greenbrier River played a crucial role in delivering logs to sawmills during the peak of the timber industry in West Virginia, particularly in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This era saw the Greenbrier become "the most famous of the driving rivers".

Prior to the extensive development of railroads, log driving and rafting were the primary methods of transporting timber downstream to milling centers. In Pocahontas County, by the late 1870s, logs were being floated down the Greenbrier River to Ronceverte. These "log drives" became an annual event on the Greenbrier until 1908.

The St. Lawrence Boom and Manufacturing Company was central to this activity. Founded in 1871 by Colonel Cecil Clay, the company initiated the first log drives on the Greenbrier and established "The Big Mill" in Ronceverte. This mill became the largest softwood mill in the country. To manage the vast quantities of timber harvested from Pocahontas and upper Greenbrier counties, the company harnessed the Greenbrier River at Ronceverte, constructing dams, spills, booms, cribs, water-pockets, and sluiceways for receiving and storing the logs. These facilities were necessary to handle the "endless millions of logs" floated downstream. The mill had a significant capacity, capable of sawing 110,000 board feet per day, and processed 433,000,000 board feet of white pine in 24 years.

The process involved cutting timber in logging camps during the summer. By late winter, large piles of logs were prepared on the banks of streams, awaiting the high waters of spring to carry them downriver to Ronceverte. Lumberjacks utilized giant log arks, 70 to 100 feet long and 18 feet wide, which followed the logs downstream and served as bunkhouses and cooking/dining halls for the workers. They also used special logging bateau for their work on the river. The log drive could take around a month with sufficient water, though it often required several rises in the river to transport all the logs to the mill. The St. Lawrence company sourced white pine timber along the Greenbrier River and its tributaries as far north as Deer Creek, near Cass.

However, the dominance of river transport eventually waned with the rise of railroads. Trains could haul timber out of the forests at a much faster rate. The last log run on the Greenbrier River took place on Saint Patrick's Day of 1908. This final drive consisted of hemlock logs cut on Knapps Creek, near Marlinton. Following the end of the log drives, the St. Lawrence company adapted by beginning to receive logs by rail in 1902 and constructed a second mill near Neola in 1909. The original mill in Ronceverte was closed around that same time.

The legacy of this era is preserved in the history of Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties. The Greenbrier River Trail, a state park, now follows the path of the old logging railroad, paralleling the river from Cass to Caldwell, serving as a reminder of the significant role the river played in the timber industry. The St. Lawrence Boom and Lumber Company is even featured in W. E. Blackhurst's book, "Riders of the Flood," highlighting the dramatic period of log driving on the Greenbrier.