The Mills that Made Williamsport

The Mills that Made Williamsport. The Timber Trail. , How did Williamsport evolve from a pioneer outpost to a thriving city boasting more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the world? Lumber. In 1838, a single, water-powered sawmill operated in Williamsport. By 1873, thirty-seven sawmills, equipped with steam-driven circular saws, produced 300 million feet of lumber , enough to make a two-foot-wide path around the world. , Three key technological advancements caused this transformation. The Susquehanna Boom, completed in 1850, corralled logs from upstream forests. Steam-powered saws, introduced in 1852, exponentially boosted production. And the West Branch Canal , and later railroads , moved lumber products to market. Between 1850 and 1870, Williamsport's population exploded, jumping from 1,615 to 16,023 as the lumber industry boomed. , End of the Lumber Era , By 1900, Williamsport's lumber production was falling steadily. Floods on the West Branch of the Susquehanna during the 1880s and 1890s had crippled the Susquehanna Boom. Relentless logging had cleared most accessible upstream forests and led to many floods. With the advent of railroads in the mid-1800s, mills no longer relied on rivers to transport logs or lumber, and many mill owners moved their sawmills closer to the last remaining uncut forests. In 1919, Williamsport's only remaining sawmill, owned by the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company, milled its last log and closed. , Williamsport’s Largest Mill , At the height of Williamsport’s lumber boom, the Dodge Mill reigned as the sawmill king. In 1867, the mill employed 200 men and 112 saws to cut 25,000,000 feet of lumber. Owned by William Dodge of Phelps, Dodge, and Company, the mill was the first in Williamsport to utilize a flexible steel band saw, which greatly increased speed and reduced waste. The mill was closed and dismantled in 1901.