Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key:	CK-28
Corporate Name:	Geo R. Caton Lumber Company
Local Name:
Owner Name:	Geo R. Caton Lumber Company. J. W. Sessions
Location:	One mile south of Wells: intersection of Highway 69 and paved road
County:	Cherokee
Years in Operation:	19 years
Start Year:	1939
End Year:	1957
Decades:	1930-1939,1940-1949,1950-1959
Period of Operation:	1939 to 1957
Town:	Wells
Company Town:	1
Peak Town Size:	Thirty-five tenant houses
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill:	Pine and hardwood rough and dressed lumber Sawmill Pine Sawmill Hardwood Sawmill Cypress Sawmill Planer Planer Only Shingle Paper Plywood Cotton Grist Unknown Other
Power Source:	Steam Horse Mule Oxen Water Water Overshot Water Turbine Diesel Unknown Pit Steam Steam Circular Steam Band Gas Electricity Other
Maximum Capacity:	20000: 1947
Capacity Comments:	In 1947, 20,000 feet daily on the sawmill and up to 30,000 on the planer
Produced:	Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board Treated Other
Equipment:	Possibly a circular sawmill
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads:	Unknown
Historicial Development:	Geo R. Caton leased a lumber manufacturing facility at Wells in 1947, according to The Jacksonville Journal. He employed seventy to seventy-five men to harvest and mill two million standing feet of timber. He also had contracted two portable mills for their cuts. This sawmill site, one mile south of Wells, began, according to B. Sessions, as a J. W. Sessions steam-powered, circular sawmill in 1939. The plant machinery included a planing mill as well. The site also had a commissary and thirty-five houses. The mill was sold to Caton in 1949. Caton had begun his manufacturing career at Avinger in 1940.
Research Date:	MCJ 12-08-95
Prepared By:	M. Johnson