
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Springhill's Heritage
The families of
William Farmer, Samuel Monzingo, J. A. Byrnes, & Joseph Murrell were
the first persons to live in the area that is now the city of Springhill.
These men & others homesteaded the land in the late 1850's.
This was a typical farming community
until 1894. In that year Bodcaw Lumber Company began buying up land for a
sawmill. This company incorporated under the laws of Arkansas with William
Buchanan as its president. J. A. Buchanan, W. F. Ferguson, J. G.
Ferguson, W. C. Brown, T. A. Brown, J. R. Brown, & Marshall Northcutt were
other members.
The first land was purchased from J.
A. Byrnes in July of 1894. In 1896 the sawmill operation began with
approximately 50 employees. The company contracted to build 25 houses in
the area west of the mill. They would be homes for the workers in the
area. This area is still know locally as "Sawmill Town".
This was the humble beginning of what
was to become Louisiana's northern-most industrial city.
The community informally adopted the
name of Piney Woods. Mrs. Maxwell, wife of one of the construction workers,
was given the honor of naming the town. Since there were so many men
working in bare feet, she selected Barefoot as a suitable name.
Mrs. A. B. Rowland, in a letter, has
given a vivid account of those early days. She says " I landed at Barefoot
Station in November of 1896. It was on the L & A right-of-way, one mile
south of the state line. A grading crew was camping in tents. The L & A
tracks lacked about five miles reaching here at that time, but was soon
laid. Pine Woods Lumber Company sent George Harris as general manager and
J. F. Giles as secretary and commissary manager, to begin building a
sawmill. I was present when Mr. Giles pulled the sign, Barefoot
Station, from the store door, wrote Springhill on the reverse side, and
nailed it up again. That was a few days before Christmas, 1896".
During this early period, Springhill
consisted of a company store, a post office, and a barber shop.
While this seems meager by today's
standards, it was really quite remarkable. Springhill was every bit a boom
town. This was accomplished with only mules and oxen for transportation.
About 1897 the Pine Woods Lumber
Company was organized and took over the operation of the sawmill. The first
recorded land purchase by the new company was in November, 1899.
From 1887 to 1993 Springhill grew and
prospered with Pine Woods Lumber Company.
In 1933 the company went out of
business and the population dwindled. Frost Lumber Company purchased and
revitalized the mill in 1936. Thus it remained until 1946, when it was
purchased by the Springhill Lumber Company, which eventually became
Anthony Forest Products Corporation. Anthony Forest Products permanently
closed the sawmill in 1972.
The town grew around the old mill. By
the time of its closure, the mill was in the center of downtown Springhill.
The sawmill is long gone now, but not forgotten by longtime residents of the
area. Many remember, with nostalgia, the mill's rhythmic pulse, the old
mill whistle, and even the black cinders which covered cars, smudged
clothing, and lodged in eyes. About all that is left of this historic old
mill is a section of wall here and there and a big empty space, but that's
where it all started.
In 1918, the first oil well was
drilled in the area. The Smitheman Well was a gas producer and provided the
first natural gas to the growing community.
It was 1927, however, before Louisiana
Power and Light came into Springhill to provide the community with
electricity. Before this time, the only electricity available in the area
was from the sawmill's big dynamo.
Perhaps it was the success of the Springhill Sawmill that
encouraged International Paper Company to consider Springhill as a site for
a different type of mill. In 1937 the big paper company chose
Springhill for a large Kraft paper mill. This selection changed
Springhill almost overnight from a sleep little sawmill town to an
industrial town of almost boom town proportions, Men cane from near
and far to apply for work in constructing the mill and hoping for permanent
employment upon the mill's completion. The influx of people greatly
over taxed the housing facilities of the area. Men lived in tents, in
what is now the city park. Several families would crowd together in
dwellings that were meant for one family. It was to take several years
for supply to catch up with demand in the housing market.
Mr. Erling Riis was construction
engineer for the building of the mill. C. L. Crain was manager of the brand
new mill, which employed 850 people by 1938.
Other industries soon joined the paper
mill in Springhill. In 1946 International Paper began construction of a box
plant, which now ships products all over the world. Stauffer Chemical was
the next industry to locate in Springhill. Stauffer began production of
aluminum sulfate in 1949. In 1960 Arizona Chemical Company constructed a
multi-million dollar plant in Springhill, and began operation with 65
employees. American Cyanamid was next to join the list of Springhill
industries.
From that historic date in 1937 when International Paper
Company selected Springhill for the site of its paper mill, the names of
Springhill and International Paper were almost synonymous in this area.
As International Paper Company went, so went Springhill. Therefore, it
was with a great deal of shock and despair that Springhill received
the announcement on October 10, 1978, that the sprawling paper mill which
provided a multi- million dollar payroll, was to close and be torn down.
Springhill almost collectively went into shock.
As it was in 1933, when the Pine woods
Lumber Company ceased operation, many left Springhill to seek employment
elsewhere. Many people stayed. The sons and grandsons of the men who had
built the mill secured jobs with the demolition companies and helped tear
the mill down. The people of Springhill watched with lumps in their throats
and an empty feeling in the pits of their stomach as the old mill was blown
up, dismantled, and hauled away.
Springhill was not to become a ghost
town. She proved to be a city of survivors. As you can see from our logo
on the main page. We all think "Springhill is Special" This is why we
have survived in spite of all the difficulties. There were still names like
Arizona Chemical, American Cyanamid, Stauffer Chemical, and Tyson Foods to
provide employment. A new source of jobs also began to develop in the form
of the oil industry. New oil fields were discovered in the area.
Springhill men and women went to work, not only drilling and producing oil
and gas, but in the jobs that provided services to that industry.
International Paper had not abandoned Springhill.
Almost like Phoenix rising from the ashes, its new Wood Products Plant
began to take shape in the dust where the old Kraft Paper Mill had stood.
Many of Springhill's sons and daughters are once again employed at a saw
mill ... an ultra-modern, mechanized, state of the art mill, but a
saw mill none the less.
The first school house of Springhill
was built on Rock Hill in 1897, on the site what was Tyson Foods on the
Plain Dealing Highway. The building was a one room, log structure. Grades
one through eight were taught at the school. Enrollment was 26, with W. A.
Miller as the first teacher. Mr. Miller became a staunch advocate for more
and better education. He was instrumental in having a petition drawn up,
which if passed, would be a tax for the support of the schools. Although
many people favored the tax, some did not , and trouble broke out.
" History of Webster Parish Schools"
states that, "The man who well deserves the credit for establishing a high
school is W. B. Smith". Smith began teaching in Springhill in 1909, and
by 1910 he was successful in having a school approved as a State High School
by the Louisiana Department of Education. The first graduates of S.H.S.
were in 1910. They were Mrs. G. A. Reynolds & Arthur Miller.
Education in Springhill continued to
grow. In 1920 a school erected, and J. L. Liggin became
principal. In 1927 a new brick building was built. S. R.
Emmons was principal at the new school. During this period Springhill
became an accredited high school. This period also saw Springhill absorb
small schools through consolidation. 1927 was also the year that the
State Athletic Association included Springhill in its membership.
The early school house served the
community as a church. The Church, known as Union Church, was
interdenominational. Worship services were held in the school until 1920,
when Pine Woods Lumber sold one acre building sites to both the Methodist
and Baptist Churches for $1.00 each. Materials were donated to the town to
construct a church building. At first the Baptists and Methodists shared
this building, meeting on alternate Sundays. Later, the Methodists offered
to sell their interest in this building to the Baptists for $500, provided
the Baptist moved the Union Church building to what is now the site of the
First Baptist Church. The Methodists retained the original site and erected
a new structure.
In 1908, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dees
established the first telephone service for Springhill. They operated the
Springhill Telephone Company from their home. Originally, the company
served approximately eight families.
In 1912, Springhill had grown large enough to support more
businesses. It was about this time that the area know as "The Hill"
came into being. The Hill consisted of a filling station, two general
stores, and a barber shop. "The Hill" area of Springhill is now
heavily traveled Butler Street. Although "The Hill" has been gone for
years, the term is still a familiar colloquialism in Springhill.
Since the first sawmill began
operation in 1936, Springhill's economy has been tied directly or indirectly
to the forest and trees which cover her rolling hills. In acknowledgment of
this fact, each October we celebrate with "The Lumberjack Festival".
We have a first class Industrial Park, that would be a
tribute to any area. We are thankful for every business in our area.
Springhill is Special and will always spring back.
On
February 2, 2002, Springhill
celebrated her 100th birthday. A Centennial clock was purchased with
donation from citizens. It is located at the North end of Main Street.
Dr. Gary Bonner wrote a
book for the Centennial Celebration, but he died June 16, 2001, about one
month after completion of the history book for his city. Its completion was
one of his proudest achievements, he had said.
Ann Bonner, wife of Dr. Gary
Bonner, took the article below from his book, "SPRINGHILL, LOUISIANA: The City That Pine
Trees Built",
which he wrote for the Centennial Celebration.
Springhill, Louisiana:
Springhill's industrial history began in 1896 when William Buchanan built a
sawmill in the community known then as Barefoot, LA. It was one of seven
sawmills from Stamps AR to Jena LA that Buchanan built along his L&A
Railroad. Trappers and farmers earlier had settled these north Louisiana
lands. So timbering and farming existed side by side for decades, from 1810
to 1937.
In the 1920's oil discoveries and production began, with fields in
neighboring Homer, Haynesville, and Shongaloo. In the 1950's oil was
drilled in the immediate Springhill area. Springhill businessmen also
found oil just across the line in southern Arkansas.
The paper mill economy began in 1937 when International Paper Company announced plans to build a kraft mill. It began operation in 1938 and continued until 1979. Many residents of Springhill attribute their migration to Springhill to the job opportunities provided by IPC.
Arizona Chemical Company was a related industry generated by the paper industry and later owned by it. The closing of the paper mill and chemical plant changed Springhill's economy drastically. The North Webster Industrial Park continues to draw varieties of new industry to the area.
A town's history is not only industries, farming, and mineral extraction. The town of Springhill has matured also in citizenry and local businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit has seen the coming and going of many pharmacies, dress shops, shoe shops, furniture stores, grocery stores, service stations, appliance stores, cafes and restaurants, movie theaters, hardware stores, bowling alleys, jewelry stores, men's clothing stores, and banks. In addition, many civic-minded organizations provide social and service opportunities. The parish library provides books, videos, magazines, and computer services.
Early on, education was deemed important, and the outlying community schools eventually gave way to the more centralized elementary, upper elementary, and high school. Springhill students have fond memories of academic excellence spurred on by caring teachers, sports teams coached to greatness, and friendships forged over many years of togetherness.
Churches of many faiths have been a part of the life of Springhill's citizens as well. Histories and photos of the churches are included.
Biographies of citizens are given, along with "folklore stories" and some historical conclusions. The appendices give valuable information on eras of history, Buchanan's saw mill empire, mayors, school principals, veterans of WW II, organizations and historical events.
Even though the tax was not brought to a vote, education did not flounder.
In 1902 a large auditorium-type school building was erected. Arthur Pope
was the principal. Enrollment was 62. This school, which consisted of ten
grades, kept no permanent records and issued no report cards to pupils.
The City That Pine Trees Built
by Dr. Gary Bonner