Timber as a viable product was worthless in this section of the country at this time. It was difficult to clear the land due to the size of the trees. Settlers navigated the waterways to settle here as squatters on property owned mostly by Thomas Lord Fairfax. They settled along the Potomac River and tributaries such as Sleepy Creek and the Cacapon River. They also settled around the area of the “famed warm springs”. First the settlers cleared lands in these areas for their cabins. Then they began clearing land for crops and animals. Chestnut, black walnut and black cherry were used for fences and beech, ash, and sugar maple were piled and burned. The best timber in these fertile valleys was thus destroyed.

As population and the growth of towns increased, so did the demand for timber. Early settlers who had been using axes and whip saws prior to the 1750’s, needed better technology for the increasing demands. Water sawmills are recorded prior to 1755 in West Virginia. The Edward Rumsey sawmill in Spruce Pine Hollow was a water saw mill.

“It is not known when or where the first sawmill was built or operated in West Virginia. It is probable, however, that there were a few built by early settlers who occupied the valley of the Potomac and its tributaries prior to the year 1755… It is reasonably safe to say that there were a dozen rude water mills in the territory now occupied by Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy, Grant, and Pendleton Counties as early as 1775 and that number had increased to 5 or 6 times as many by the year 1800… A record dated in the year 1800 states that there were about 50 mills running in Berkeley County alone at that time. (A.B. Brooks, Forestry and Wood Industries, p 58)

The next innovation was the circular steam propelled saw which was used starting in the late 1700’s. Their use rapidly expanded with the railroad. The railroad was extended to Hancock from Harpers Ferry in 1842, and then to Cumberland. The C & O canal followed. These events caused a boom in the Morgan County economy. By 1882 there were 82 sawmills recorded along the C & O railroad alone in West Virginia.

The development and implementation of the band saw after 1875 completed the destruction of the rest of the West Virginia forests. It took up to 17 acres per day of West Virginia virgin timber to keep just one of these sawmills operating with a steady flow of logs. Much of Morgan Counties’ virgin timber was probably depleted by this time, because there are no listings of band saws in Morgan County prior to 1920.

There were several other forestry-associated industries at this time in West Virginia. Of these it is known that only tanneries maintained their presence for any period of time. They were located in the town of Bath to the turn of the 20th century and Paw Paw from 1900 to 1942. Tanneries were owned by leather companies who used hemlock bark in the tanning process. Hemlock was in abundance in many valley areas in Morgan County, but when these were depleted, the tanneries were forced to close or to move.

Our nation has learned the lessons about the importance of protecting natural resources. Today we have many laws that prevent the destruction like that of past generations. Time has healed many of the Morgan County forests. Presently, the county is 79% forested with second and even third growth forests totaling over 600 million board feet on 117,000 acres of timberland. Cacapon State Park and Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area comprise 11,720 acres. The remainder is owned by private landowners and corporations.

Since 2001, the average acreage harvested has been 1,130 acres of timber of which only 130 acres is clear cut either for development, agriculture, or replanting. The amount cut is approximately 950,000 board feet per year. The primary species cut are oak and pine. Most oak is shipped to out of state mills for use in a variety of products from veneer, furniture and flooring to lumber and railroad ties. A majority of the pine is transported to Luke, Maryland to be used in the making of paper products. There are currently over 20 people employed in the forest industry in Morgan County.

Sources:
Roy B. Clarkson, Tumult on the Mountain, 1770-1920.
Frederick T. Newbraugh, Warm Springs Echoes, Vol. 1.