The history of logging in Cass, West Virginia

 

The history of logging in Cass, West Virginia, is a classic American story of a powerful company town built entirely on the timber industry, marked by incredible engineering feats and a definitive end that paved the way for its life as a state park.

Here is a summary of the logging era in Cass:

1. The Founding: West Virginia Pulp & Paper (1901–1942)

• The Company Town: The town of Cass was established in 1901 by the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company (WVP&P), which needed the vast red spruce and hardwood forests of Cheat Mountain to supply its paper mills in Covington, Virginia, and Luke, Maryland. The town was named for Joseph Kerr Cass, a company executive.

• The Mill: The sawmill in Cass quickly became a central operation. At its peak, it was one of the largest double-band sawmills in the world, capable of cutting 125,000 board feet of lumber per 11-hour shift. The WVP&P operation and the town itself supported a population of over 2,000 workers and their families by 1920.

• The Railroad Backbone: The entire operation relied on the construction of the Cass Scenic Railroad (originally the Greenbrier Cheat & Elk Railroad). Workers, including many immigrants, laid standard-gauge track up the steep grades of Back Allegheny Mountain to haul massive logs down to the mill.

• The Locomotives: The steep, winding terrain necessitated the use of specialized, powerful, gear-driven steam locomotives, most famously the Shay locomotives, which are still used today.

• Widespread Operations: The railroad network extended far, including a line up to Spruce, which, at 3,853 feet, became the highest town east of the Rocky Mountains at the time. By 1915, the WVP&P operated over 81 miles of track. Notably, the high-quality spruce harvested here was even used by the Wright Brothers in the construction of their early airplanes.

2. The Second Growth: Mower Lumber Company (1942–1960)

• Decline and Sale: By the 1930s, the original virgin forests were largely depleted, and the Great Depression slowed operations. In June 1942, WVP&P sold the entire Cass operation to the Mower Lumber Company of Charleston.

• Final Years: Mower Lumber continued the operation, cutting the remaining second-growth timber from Cheat and Back Allegheny Mountains. However, the timber industry in the region was in rapid decline.

• The End: The final log was sawed and all logging operations ceased on July 1, 1960.

3. Preservation and State Park (1961–Present)

• Averted Scrapping: Following the closure, the mill and railroad were sold for scrap value. However, a group of local businessmen and rail enthusiasts intervened and successfully convinced the state legislature to save the line.

• Cass Scenic Railroad State Park: In 1961, the state of West Virginia purchased 11 miles of the logging railroad, and in 1963, the first tourist excursion ran from the Cass depot. Later, the state acquired the rest of the town, including the company houses, which were renovated for use as park cabins.

Today, the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is an authentic, operating museum that preserves the logging era, using the same Shay locomotives and trackage to carry visitors up the mountain to scenic points like Bald Knob.