Logging Camps and Lumber Mills

Logging Camps and Lumber Mills. . The lumber camps followed the railroads. They were scattered across the landscape of the Laurel Highlands. Camps usually included a central boarding house and several shanties for individual families. After all trees were felled, they loaded their shanties on the train and moved to the next fragment of forest. Mobile saws relocated repeatedly to be close to logging camps. Larger, more permanent mills occupied sites near the juncture of several railways. Lumber mills expanded rapidly. Some grew to include a post office, company store, and schoolhouse. Local families linked their welfare to the screams of the saw, the roar of the machines, and the booming of lumber on the roll. , , Vanished , Camps and crews worked around the clock without regard for the consequence of complete deforestation. Eventually, the forests disappeared. Mills and temporary railways were torn down or fell to ruins. Flooding and soil erosion intensified without trees. The once prosperous mountainsides of Laurel Hill were considered worthless and devoid of life.