L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company facts for kids
| Successor | International Paper Company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1888 |
| Founder | Lorenzo Nolly Dantzler |
| Defunct | 1966 |
| Headquarters |
,
United States
|
| Products | Southern yellow pine Tree farming |
| Subsidiaries | Native Lumber Co. (1899–1931) Vancleave Lumber Co. (1903–1931) Handsboro Lumber Co. (1906–1914) Ten Mile Lumber Co. (1910–1922) Bond Lumber Co. (1915–1919) Cedar Lake Mill Co. (1919–1927) |
The L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company was a big business that started in Moss Point, Mississippi. It began as a small sawmill owned by William Griffin. Later, Lorenzo Nolly Dantzler bought it in the 1870s. With his two sons, he officially started the company in 1888.
At first, the company mainly made lumber from a type of wood called southern yellow pine. But in 1949, they changed their business. They started tree farming southern pines. This meant they grew trees and then carefully cut them down. This method helped them get different wood products. The Dantzler family owned the business for 75 years. Then, in 1966, they sold it to the International Paper Company.
Contents
Company History: How It Started
Early Days of Dantzler Lumber
The L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company began even before the American Civil War. William Griffin owned a sawmill in Moss Point, Mississippi. This town was a great spot because the Pascagoula River and Escatawpa River met there.
Lorenzo Nolly Dantzler married Griffin's daughter in 1857. He started working with his father-in-law. In the 1870s, Lorenzo bought the sawmill from Griffin. He then started the business under his own name.
A lumber merchant from New Orleans helped L.N. Dantzler with money. With this help, Dantzler built a much bigger sawmill. It was located along the Escatawpa River in Moss Point. This new mill started working in 1885.
The new sawmill could process 70,000 board feet of lumber every day. A board foot is a way to measure wood. Within six years, they were making 125,000 board feet daily! The new mill also had special kilns to dry the wood. It had machines for planing and edging. These machines turned rough wood into smooth, finished products.
Dantzler asked his two sons, J.L. and L.N. Dantzler, Jr., to join the company. On March 1, 1888, the three of them officially created the L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company. This company became the first privately owned business in Mississippi to be officially recognized as a corporation.
For 20 years, the company hired other people to cut and bring logs to their sawmills. These were called "contract loggers." But in the 1890s, the company started buying huge areas of land. This way, they would always have enough trees for their lumber. By the early 1900s, they owned about 400,000 acres (160,000 hectares) of timberland. This land was in the six southernmost counties of Mississippi.
Sawmills and Shipping Lumber
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The sawmill in Moss Point was in a perfect spot. Logs could float down the Pascagoula and Escatawpa Rivers to the mill. But to get to their trees further inland, the company built a railroad. This railroad went from Vancleave, Mississippi, into what is now Stone County.
After the lumber was processed at the sawmills, it was loaded onto trains. Then, it was put onto the company's own ships. These ships carried the lumber across the Gulf of Mexico. They exported wood to Mexico, South America, the Caribbean Islands, and Europe. By 1913, the Dantzler company was the biggest lumber exporter in Mississippi.
When World War I began, countries overseas needed less lumber. Their money and efforts went into the war. So, the demand for lumber from other countries went down.
The company used the money they earned from the Moss Point sawmill to buy other sawmills. They also built new mills all over southern Mississippi. Some of the companies they owned included:
- Bond Lumber Company (1915 to 1919)
- Cedar Lake Mill Company (1919 to 1927)
- Handsboro Lumber Company (1906 to 1914)
- Native Lumber Company (1899 to 1931)
- Ten Mile Lumber Company (1910 to 1922)
- Vancleave Lumber Company (1903 to 1931)
Other Dantzler Businesses
The Dantzler family didn't just own sawmills. They also had many other businesses. These included:
- Naval store operations: These made products like tar and pitch from pine trees.
- A marine towing business: This helped move ships and barges.
- A ship building and dry docks company: They built and repaired ships.
- A foundry and machine works company: This made metal parts and machines.
- A brick kiln: This made bricks.
- A mill for producing shingles: Shingles are used for roofs.
- A factory for making window sashes and blinds.
The Southern Paper Mill
In the early 1900s, J.L. Dantzler traveled to England. He talked to experts in the paper industry. He wanted to know if they could use the sulfate process to make kraft paper from southern pine trees. Kraft paper is strong paper, like what is used for grocery bags.
In 1911, the Dantzlers started building a paper mill in Moss Point. They wanted to use the leftover wood scraps from their sawmills. The mill began working in 1913 and was called Southern Paper Company.
The International Paper Company bought this paper mill in 1928. They ran it until the end of the 20th century. The paper mill finally closed in 2001.
Changing How They Managed Forests
As the supply of old, untouched forests (called "virgin timber") started to run out in the 1920s, the Dantzler Lumber Company changed. They slowly stopped using railroads to transport logs. Instead, they began planting new trees on the land they had cut down. This is called reforestation.
By the early 1940s, the company started selectively cutting their timber. This meant they only cut down certain trees. This helped them keep a supply of larger trees for a longer time.
In 1942, the company closed its Moss Point sawmill. They moved their main office to Ten Mile, near Perkinston, Mississippi. There, they opened a new sawmill. During World War II, the Dantzler Lumber Company made a deal with the War Department. They used workers from a prisoner-of-war camp in Saucier, Mississippi. These prisoners helped stack, load, and handle lumber at their Ten Mile sawmill.
In 1949, Dantzler Lumber Company stopped all their own logging and mill operations. They changed their business to tree farming. They started selling their timber on a selective basis. This allowed them to produce many different wood products. These included:
- Poles: Tall, strong pieces of wood used for power lines.
- Pilings: Long, heavy pieces of wood driven into the ground to support buildings.
- Sawlogs: Logs cut to be made into lumber.
- Pulpwood: Wood used to make paper.
By the middle of the 20th century, the company had reduced its timberland. They went from nearly half a million acres to about 115,000 acres (47,000 hectares). In 1966, the L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company was sold to the International Paper Company.
