Madisonville in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)
Steam Powered "Groundhog" Sawmill
Photographed By Darren Jefferson Clay, March 8, 2022
1. Steam Powered "Groundhog" Sawmill Marker
The steam engine assembled here is typical of many such engines employed as portable power plants from the time of their introduction 1847 through the 1930's. This engine was built by the Geiser Manufacturing Company of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, in 1908. This was their model "P", the largest portable engine the Geiser Company ever made. Only 82 such engines were built, and this one is the only known survivor. The engine was put back into operating condition in 1970 and is capable of running the sawmill attached to it today.
The sawmill presently attached to the steam engine is a movable sawmill made in Chattanooga, Tennessee, by the Corley Manufacturing Company, and is commonly called a groundhog mill. Together with the steam engine it illustrates a small, country steam sawmill typical in America during the last half of the 19th-first quarter of the 20th-century. It was last owned and operated by the Varisco Brothers of Hammond, Louisiana.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce.
Location. 30° 24.496′ N, 90° 8.518′ W. Marker is in Madisonville, Louisiana, in St. Tammany Parish. Marker can be reached from Fairview Drive, half a mile north of 22. Located inside the Fairview/Riverside State Park. Touch for map
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Madisonville (approx. 0.9 miles away); War of 1812 Memorial (approx. 0.9 miles away); Madisonville Cemetery (approx. 0.9 miles away); Civil War Earthworks (approx. 1.2 miles away); Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (approx. 4.1 miles away); Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge (approx. 4.1 miles away); Greater Mandeville Veterans Memorial (approx. 4˝ miles away); Saint Peter Church (approx. 5.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Madisonville.
October 14, 2016
2. Steam Powered "Groundhog" Mill Marker
October 14, 2016
3. Geiser Model "P"
Photographed By Darren Jefferson Clay, March 8, 2022
4. Corley Sawmill
October 14, 2016
5. Corley Sawmill
Credits. This page was last revised on March 9, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 25, 2017, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 505 times since then and 39 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on March 8, 2022, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. 2, 3. submitted on September 25, 2017. 4. submitted on March 8, 2022, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. 5. submitted on September 25, 2017.
