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Early reports estimate that the average yield of pine lumber in a 40-acre stand was from 400,000 board feet to nearly 1,000,000 board feet. Thirty to 35 per cent of the timber in Iron County was pine. Thirty-four camps were in operation near Crystal Falls in 1884. There is no count for the Western half of the county.
With the shift to the harvesting of hardwoods, it was neccessary for railroads to be built into the forests. In the 10 years following 1915 four logging railroads were constructed into the larger holdings. These were by the Weideman Lumber Company, the J.W. Wells Lumber Company, the Patten Timber Company, and the Sawyer-Goodman Company. While "horse power" prevailed in the early days of harvesting, mechanization had taken over larger operations in the 1930s. The Lindahl brothers formed one of the major local partnership. In 1941-42 they employed 150 men and used 20 trucks to handle the logs. In 1995, Statistics show that 658,000 acres or 85.4% of Iron County is timbered. Standing growth is estimated at 4,493,000 cubic feet. While the larger industries are Champion International Conner-AGA Sports Flooring Corp., Consolidated Papers, Keweenaw Land Association and Magiglide, Inc., over 110 smaller timber operators are listed as harvesters in Iron County. |
In 1887 the Metropolitan Lumber Company built the largest mill in the area on
the river at Atkinson, which became the timber center of the county for approximately
15 years--supplying much lumber to Chicago to rebuild after the great fire of 1872.
Pine could be floated down the river. The major transportation system was by "Boom
Companies" and the largest was the Menominee River Manufacturing Co. (1868-1887) which
was followed by the Menominee River Boom Company (1887-1917). Because of the river
many of them furnish good fishing locations for local people and tourists interested in the
sport.