| Historicial Development: | The Aetna Lumber Company operated mills at Dodge and Riverside, with the main office at Riverside. In 1907, the main owners were Robert Hall, J. L. Hall, and J. W. Hunter. Aetna Lumber Company operated a sawmill at Riverside from about 1906 to 1910. Various records indicate that the ownership fluctuated. One group was Robert Hall, J. L. Hall, and W. C. Hunter; another consisted of W. A. Bell; and another of W. L. Hall and D. F. Hall.
On December 14, 1907, Aetna Lumber Company, “a partnership” of “Robert L. Hall, J. L. Hall, and J. W. Hunter,” sold all timber to Aetna on 443 acres of A. J. Beard league in Walker County and 1600 acres of the J. J. Porter league, presumably located in Walker County. W. A. Bell sold the mill on that date to Aetna Lumber Company, including all equipment, thirteen oxen, one mule, a Century log wagon, a light log wagon, a blacksmith shop, tenant houses, commissary, buildings and stables, lumber and logs, crosscut saws and axes, for $8,000. On the same day, Hall and Hunter, for $2,000, gave Hall a two-thirds interest in the mill.
Robert Hall's mill near Riverside burned in July 1909, according to the Southern Industrial and Lumber Review. In 1911, Robert Hall was buying equipment from Palmetto Lumber Company, including a planer, a knife set, a #55 saw grinder, and a saw swage. Apparently, Hall was attempting to get back into the business. |