A Timber Based Economy

A Timber Based Economy. . , Paper, Pulp, Heels, Pianos, and Bedsteads , The mills of Lincoln prospered, first with logs at the sawmill, and later with the production of paper and pulp. Other mills in town produced bedsteads, women's hardwood heel forms- and even piano soundboards. , The Parker-Young Company bought out the Henry's timber operations after World War I. They suffered financial losses after a 1927 flood damaged much of their property-then suffered even greater losses during the Great Depression. , Inn 1950s the millpond was drained to recover 1000 cords of wood. Old timber from very large trees was sold at a high price. Henry Waldo recalled, "Some of the 'sinkers' from the pond bottom were as bright as the day they were cut." , Pulp production begins , The Henrys built a larger mill in 1902, and four years later they opened their third for the production of paper. At its peak, some 350 people worked in Lincoln 's mills. , Land sold to the White Mountain National Forest , In early 1930s the Parker-Young Company sold 60,000 acres in Waterville Valley to the U. S. Government, to become part of the National Forest. The mills changed hands in1946 and again in 1950, then ceased operations in 1979. This meant the end of 350 skilled mill jobs. A growing recreation-based industry softened the blow to the community, but the well-paid, year-round mill jobs were gone. , What became of the Land? , What was once the Lincoln Woods timberland is now the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Loon Mountain and Waterville Valley, with ski slopes on National Forest land, are now four season resorts. , ( photo caption ) , , Lincoln's millpond below held 18million board feet of lumber in 1908 alone.