HIST209
US LUMBER INDUSTRY
Industrial Metropolis
O c to b e r 5 t h , 2 01 0
Prof. Johnson
Mark Pan
PREFACE
 This presentation focuses on 1860 -1900 softwood lumber
production sources in the US with an emphasis on Chicago in the
timeline
 Focus on softwood lumber because this was the primary type of
wood in Chicago (particularly white pine) ( Cronon, 151). Further,
there was more available data and softwood was more prevalent
in the US in the late 1800s, particularly since houses used
softwood lumber.
 Hardwood was particularly relevant in the South
 http :// mshistor y.k 1 2 . ms.us/a r t ic le s/1 71/gr o w th -of- the - lu m be r - i ndust r y -18 40 -to -193 0
 Unfortunately the seemingly ideal source is in storage at the
Penn library and takes 3 -4 business days to retrieve. These are
“Forest products statistics of [various US regions],” compiled by
R.V. Reynolds and A.H. Pierson.
 Much of the earlier literature used the term timber. This can be
used interchangeably with what we call lumber in general.
 http://www.diffe r e nce be twe e n.ne t/ob j e ct/d i ffe r e nce -be t we e n - l u mbe r -and- t i mbe r /
 iji
METHODOLOGY
 Rough raw data were collected from:
 Cox, Thomas R. "Mills and Markets: A History of the Pacific Coast
Lumber Industry to 1900." Seattle and London: University of
Washington Press, 1974. Print.
 See Appendix A for my raw data
 The following maps were created using ArcGIS 10
GRADUATED COLOR MAPS, 1 YEAR/SLIDE
 The following are graduated color maps I created.
1848
1869
1879
1889
1899
DENSIT Y DOT MAPS, 1 YEAR/SLIDE
 The following are density dot maps, representing the same
information in a dif ferent way
= 20 million
board feet
1869
= 20 million
board feet
1879
= 20 million
board feet
1889
= 20 million
board feet
1899
DENSIT Y DOT MAPS, WITH TIMELINE
 Timeline events regarding Chicago are drawn from Cronon
 Other timeline events are drawn from Cox
1850
1848: Chicago area dominates neighbors in softwood lumber production
1850
1850s: Trade Debates over the US excluding Canada from US markets
1850
1850s: Chicago lumber capital of the world (Cronon, 170). Average
Chicago logging crew 15 men.
1850
1854: Reciprocity Treaty for free trade between Canada and the US
1850
1857: Tariff of 1857 benefited the South
1850
1857: Poor Chicago economy, including lumber industry (Cronon 165)
1850
1857: Tariff of 1857 benefited the South
= 20 million
board feet
1869
1860: 80% of Chicago lumber exported via rail (Cronon, 181)
= 20 million
board feet
1869
1865: Chicago logging crews now often 50-100 people
= 20 million
board feet
1869
1866: Reciprocity Treaty Broken by the US
= 20 million
board feet
1879
1870: Yellow pine competitor from the south makes its way to Chicago.
Railroad extensively built in the South (Cronon, 196).
= 20 million
board feet
1879
1870: Tariff Act: Sawlog imports placed on the free list
= 20 million
board feet
1879
1870s: Chicago lumber no longer being shipped primarily by water.
Industry stagnates until 1882 (Cronon, 184).
= 20 million
board feet
1879
1872: Increased tariffs on low grade Canadian lumber
= 20 million
board feet
1879
1873: Poor Chicago economy, including lumber industry (Cronon, 168)
= 20 million
board feet
1879
1879: Chicago “holding over 400 million board feet of lumber” (Cronon, 173)
= 20 million
board feet
1889
1880: 90% of Chicago lumber exported via rail (Cronon, 181), though rates heavily increase and hurt the
industry (Cronon, 193). At the same time, lumber arriving by lake drastically decreases ( Cronon, 198-199).
= 20 million
board feet
1889
1882: Chicago lumber industry declines
= 20 million
board feet
1889
1883: Morrill Tariff raised it further
= 20 million
board feet
1899
1890: McKinley Tariff cut the US tariff on Canadian imports in half
= 20 million
board feet
1899
1894: Wilson Tariff restored free trade
= 20 million
board feet
1899
1897: Dingley Tariff quickly returned tariffs to the Morrill Tariff level
= 20 million
board feet
1899
1900: The Cutover, the cleared Chicago forests (Cronon, 203).
APPENDIX A
 Rough raw data were collected from non -numerical graphs
from:
 Cox, Thomas R. "Mills and Markets: A History of the Pacific Coast
Lumber Industry to 1900." Seattle and London: University of
Washington Press, 1974. Print.
 I estimated charts and compiled the following data:
Northeast
Year
Maine New York
1869
0.61
1.11
1879
0.54
0.98
1889
0.59
0.74
1899
0.73
0.66
Great Lakes
Penn.
Michigan Wiscon Minneso Louisian
1.28
1.8
0.8
0.22
0.1
1.35
3.7
1.27
0.53
0.24
1.87
4.2
2.6
1.5
0.28
1.8
2.25
2.8
2.28
1.1
South
Pacific
Mississ
Alabam Washing Oregon Californ
0.18
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.35
0.17
0.21
0.15
0.15
0.32
0.3
0.6
1.15
0.5
0.5
1
0.99
1.45
0.8
0.8
WORKS CITED
 Cox, Thomas R. "Mills and Markets: A History of the Pacific
Coast Lumber Industry to 1900." Seattle and London:
University of Washington Press, 1974. Print .
 Cronon, William. “Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great
West.” New York and London: WW Norton & Company, 1991 .
 Howe, Tony. “Growth of the Lumber Industry, 1840 to 1930.”
Mississippi History Now, October 2 nd , 2010.
< h t t p : / / m s h i s t o r y. k 1 2 . m s . u s / a r t i c l e s / 171 / g r o w t h - o f - t h e - l u m b e r - i n d u s t r y - 1 8 4 0 - t o - 1 9 3 0 >
OTHER WORKS CONSULTED
 h t t p : / / w w w . f r a n k l i n . l i b r a r y. u p e n n . e d u / c g i bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=forest%20AND%20products%20AND%20statistics%20AND%20r
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5020814&HIST=1&CNT=50+records+per+page&DB=local
 http://www.dif ferencebetween.net/objec t/dif ference -between -lumber -and -timber/
 h t t p : / / s o f e w . c f r. m s s t a t e . e d u / p a p e r s / 07 0 4 l u p p o l d . p d f
 http:// www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/histor y/mnstatehistor y/timeline.html
 h t t p : / / w w w . a r c h i v e . o r g / s t r e a m / m o n t h l y c a t a l o g o f 4 51 9 3 9 u n i t / m o n t h l y c a t a l o g o f 4 51 9 3 9 u n i t _ d j
vu.txt
 h t t p : / / e n . w i k i p e d i a . o r g / w i k i / M o r r i l l _ Ta r i f f
 h t t p : / / e n . w i k i p e d i a . o r g / w i k i / Ta r i f f _ o f _ 1 8 57
 h t t p : / / w w w . l i b r a r y. f o r. g o v. b c . c a / i p a c 2 0 / i p a c . j s p ? s e s s i o n = T 2 8 6 247 2 O 76 9 3 . 2 3 317 8 9 & p r o f i l e =
m o f & s o u r c e = ~ ! f o r e s t & v i e w = s u b s c r i p t i o n s u m m a r y & u r i = f u l l = 31 0 0 0 01 ~ ! 6 4 8 8 ~ ! 6 & r i = 1 & a s p e c t =
b a s i c _ s e a r c h & m e n u = s e a r c h & i p p = 2 0 & s p p = 2 0 & s t a f f o n l y = & t e r m = U S DA + S t a t i s t i c a l + B u l l e t i n & i n d
ex=&uindex=&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ri=1
 h t t p : / / w w w . e h o w . c o m / h o w _ 5 174 2 6 2 _ c a l c u l a t e - m b f - l u m b e r. h t m l