Lumber City

Lumber City. . , In the second half of the 19th century, the area between the Niagara River and River Road from this point south for 3 miles, to the Erie Canal was filled with lumber drying in stacks about 12 feet square and up to 16 feet high. The only breaks in the lumber stacks were for railroad tracks leading from the main lines to each yard and buildings that house mills and lumber company offices., Across River Road there were other yards of timber and lumber related businesses. Planing mill and sash and blind manufacturers were the most numerous Others included local furniture makers and coopers barrel makers., The abundance of wood of many varieties led to the establishment of wood-related industries in North Tonawanda. Several furniture makers were headquartered here. Allan Herschell used locally processed wood in his carousels that were shipped nation-wide from North Tonawanda., The Richardson Boat Company used a mix of North American hardwoods processed here in building their esteemed yachts and cabin cruisers. These boats were built to order over the winter. When the Erie Canal opened, the boats were sailed down the canal to the customers via the Hudson River and the inter-coastal waterway. A similar "sail-away" took place just before the canal closed to boating in the fall., Auto-Wheel Coaster was another firm that made use of the locally processed wood. They made children's toys most notably coaster sleds, but also toboggans, bobsleds, wagons, scooters, and tricycles., All of these wood products used metal fasteners in their construction. The Buffalo Bolt Company located on Oliver Street, was able to supply all of these needs. In their peak production year, the "Bolt Works" produced over 600,000,000 bolts, nuts, screws and other fasteners. With around the clock production, hundreds of people were employed there. Many of these workers came from surrounding towns., The Wood Pulp making industry here made use of otherwise undesirable wood. The pulp was shipped to paper making factories in the east.