Ponchatoula Lumber Mills, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Aug. 2005
Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives.

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PONCHATOULA HAD MANY RURAL LUMBER MILLS

In the Ponchatoula Enterprise, 1 June 2005

BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian


Because of the abundance of heavily forested land in southern Tangipahoa Parish, 
lumbering was an early and economically important part of life in the Ponchatoula 
area.  Huge virgin pine trees soaring high towards the heavens and ancient 
tidewater red cypress trees at the margins of the Manchac swamp were available for 
the use of pioneer lumbermen.  Once cut these large trees had to be transport to 
the area lumber mills, either by floating them down nearby streams or hauling them 
overland by sturdy oxen drawn lumber carts.  The earliest mills were operated on 
streams and used the water's current as a power source.  Even a small relatively 
slow-moving stream could be used to provide this water power when part of the 
stream's flow was diverted through sluices to a narrower passage.  Funneling the 
water through a narrower opening would power a water wheel whose turning blades 
would be connected through a shaft, gears, and linkage to a saw blade.   The saw 
would then rough cut the logs into lumber of usable dimensions.

The advent of steam power meant that saw mills could be built closer to the source 
of the timber, thus reducing the costs of transporting the logs to the mill.  Many 
of these sawmills, especially in later years could be moved, with some difficulty, 
from one location to another as the lumber supply in a particular area was 
exhausted.  Information on these mills was obtained from parish deed and succession 
records, civil suits, and Federal census records, especially the 1880 census of 
manufacturers.  Listed below are a few, but certainly not all, of the rural 
sawmills operating outside of Ponchatoula in the nineteenth century.

ABELS' MILL  This mill operated in the 1890's and was owned by Jacob R. Abels, 
Ponchatoula's leading merchant during this period.  The mill was located on some of 
the land Abels owned west of Ponchatoula.  Mr. Abels advertised in the early 1900's 
that he was a dealer in cypress and pine lumber, shingles, and barrel staves.  

BALDWIN'S MILL  Charles Baldwin operated a steam powered sawmill on the east bank 
of the Tangipahoa River.  Baldwin sold the mill property in 1831 to Thomas C. Terry 
and Terry sold it in May 1833 to John Merle.  This is believed to be the same mill, 
although the ownership probably changed over the years, as that show as an łold saw 
mill˛ at this location on an 1879 Corps of Engineers map of the Tangipahoa River.  

COSBY'S MILL  Located on Selcer's Creek about two miles outside of the town of 
Ponchatoula this mill was operated by John Johnson Cosby in the 1880's.  The saw 
mill consisting of an engine, boiler, saw frame, and carriage, edging table, etc., 
was sold by Cosby and his wife Jane Robinson Cosby to George H. Biegel and his 
wife Caroline in Jan. 1888.  Biegel thereafter moved the machinery to his mill in 
Ponchatoula.  

J. GROSBERT MILL  This mill was located on Selcer's Creek and obtained timber from 
the Ponchatoula and Tangipahoa river areas.  The mill was steam powered and 
operated one boiler and one engine of fifteen horsepower.  Using one circular saw 
the mill produced 160,000 feet of board lumber during 1879.  The mill operated 
half-time for eight months of the year and was idle the other four months.  The 
capital investment was in the mill was $3,000, and the greatest number of hands 
employed in 1879 was seven.  Total wages paid during the year was $700.  

HOLDEN and YOKUM MILL  This steam powered mill was owned by William Holden and 
Charles Yokum and located on Selser's Creek.  It consisted of one boiler and one 
engine producing 25 horsepower.  The mill workers did their own logging and 
obtained their timber from the area around the mill site.  The greatest number of 
hands employed during the year of 1879 was five, and all of these were men over the 
age of sixteen.  The workers labored from eight to nine hours per day depending on 
the season of the year.  Skilled workers received $2.50 per day and unskilled 
laborers received $1 a day.  The total wages paid in 1879 were $450.  The mill 
operated on a half-time basis for eight months of the year and was idle the other 
months.  Using one circular saw the mill produced 300,000 board feet of lumber in 
1879.  The mill had logs on hand in 1879 valued at $1,900 and mill supplies valued 
$150.  Capital investment at the mill was $3,000.  When not cutting lumber, the 
engine was used with different apparatus to grind corn and mill rice.

NUMA POCHE MILL  This mill was located on the Tangipahoa River and consisted one 
boiler and one engine of twelve horsepower, and employed five men.  The men worked 
eight to ten hour days depending on the season of the year.  Skilled workers 
received $2 per day and unskilled workers received $1 a day.  The mill was in 
operation on a half-time basis for seven months of the year and was idle the other 
months.  The mill used one circular saw and produced 80,000 board feet of lumber 
during 1879.  The mill had logs valued at $440 and mill supplies valued at $75 
when the 1880 census was conducted.  The capital investment was $2,500.  The mill 
obtained logs from the area around the Tangipahoa River and the mill workers did 
their own logging.  

TANGIPAHOA RIVER MILL  An 1879 Corps of Engineers map of the Tangipahoa River shows 
a sawmill on the east bank of the river near the mouth of the river.  Located 
nearby were buildings labeled shipyards.  A sawmill was also shown on this site on 
a 1918 Corps of Engineers map.  Future research may indicate the ownership and 
dates of operation of this mill {See Baldwin's Mill}.

TAYLOR'S MILL  Dr. B. F. Taylor, a local physician who also owned timber interests 
in the Ponchatoula area, operated a mill southeast of Ponchatoula after the Civil 
War.  He is recorded as paying Federal taxes on his manufacturing operation in 
Ponchatoula as early as May of 1866.   Dr. Taylor contracted 8 Jan. 1869 with the 
Southern Railroad Association to deliver between 80,000 and 100,000 cypress cross 
ties.  Taylor was paid $17, 636 by the railroad association, mostly for the cross 
ties and some other items.  Taylor received this money between Feb. 1869 and May 
1870.  The ties were sold for fifty-one cents each.   The delivery of these 
cross-ties became a matter of litigation in 1870.  The mill seems to have operated 
for a number of years in the 1870's.  

Anyone with comments, questions, or additional information about Ponchatoula's rich 
heritage may call Jim Perrin at 386-4476