Yellow Poplar Lumber Company

The History of the Ironton Yellow Popular Lumber Company – The Chicago Lumber Company was built along the Ohio River. The business was to employ two hundred men and cover 50 acres. Because of the number of employees and new people in the Coal Grove area, the small local school was becoming too small.

The plans were made to build a new school. Chicago Lumber Company donated red paint for the new four-room school. Because of the distinct color of the paint, the school was named the “Little Red School House”. Unfortunately for the company, a fire damaged most of the property. The land and company were sold to the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company.

May 4, 1883 – The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company sent a sixteen-foot long and six feet in diameter curly walnut log to the World’s Fair. The log was worth $800.

June 11, 1883 – improvements were made to the plant. A $20,000 power plant was added. Electric lights were installed to light the company. These were the first electric lights installed in Coal Grove. Like many companies of the time, Yellow Poplar ran a dry goods and groceries store located on Mayor Jone’s property. They paid their employees in script. The employees then used the script to buy their necessities.

The Marion Star, Marion, Ohio 18 August 1892 – Fatally Hurt in a Sawmill. Catlettsburg, Ky., Aug. 18. John Ferguson was struck and fatally injured by a board at the sawmill of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company below Tuesday. He was feeding a saw when the saw caught and then started quickly, throwing a board against his head, and a sharp point penetrated his brain. He came here only a few days ago with his wife and child from Cassville, WV.

Akron Daily Democrat, Akron, Ohio 8 April 1893 – Disastrous Fire Ashland, Ky., April 8 – The most disastrous fire ever visited this section occurred at the Yellow Popular Lumber Company’s extensive yards, formerly known as the Chicago Lumber Company, at Coal Grove, Ohio.

The entire plant was destroyed, with 24 private residences east of the yards, to which high winds communicated the flames. The lumber was thoroughly dried and burned like tinder. John Massil was seen on top of the planning mill and is supposed to have perished. Occupants of residences could not save anything, barely escaping with their lives. The loss will reach $750,000.

Twenty-two families were made destitute by the fire. Mrs. Brush, an invalid confined to her bed, was burned to death. The mill was owned by a Chicago company, of which J. Green was president.

Portsmouth Daily Times, 15 April 1893 – The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company Sustains a Loss of $150,000. At about 2 o’clock Friday afternoon fire broke out in the dry kiln of the Yellow Poplar Lumber plant at Coal Grove, Lawrence county. The high wind soon carried the flames to every part of the yard.

 From there, the fire spread to the business part of the village and licked up the dwellings and business houses in short order. Twenty-five houses were destroyed.  The main sawmill was saved. The Ice creek N & W bridge was partially destroyed.

Employees and other citizens made a desperate effort to subdue the fire. Ironton and Catlettsburg fire companies did much to stay the flames. The loss is estimated from $150,000 to $175,000. The company employs about 200 people. The fire was disastrous and very similar to the big fire at New Boston last summer when the Little Kanawha Lumber company’s plant was consumed.

Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, Ohio 22 April 1893 – The Yellow Poplar company will rebuild their plant at Coal Grove on a larger scale than ever.

Xenia Daily Gazette, Xenia, Ohio 29 Dec. 1896 – ONIONS IN SUPREME COURT – Suit Involving Their Ownership Fought Long and Hard – Columbus, Dec. 28.— A suit involving the ownership of fifty bushels of onions was filed in the Supreme Court today from the court of Lawrence County, Ohio. William Coe brought the suit in the Common Pleas Court against the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, an Illinois company, which is also engaged in this State as a coal miner. Coe leased some land from the company on which he raised onions, and the contention grew out of the settlement.

Wellington Enterprise, Wellington, Ohio 10 Feb. 1897 – A suit has been filed at Portsmouth, Ohio, for a receiver for the Yellow Poplar Lumber Co. of Chicago. The property of the concern includes immense sawmills at Coal Grove, Ohio, Ashland, Ky., and at various points in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, several steamboats, and large tracts of timber. (The Judge later dismissed this)

Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio 22 Dec. 1900 – Eleven Times – A Knife Blade was Sunk into his Body – Ironton, Ohio Dec. 22 – August Miller stabbed Henry Holliday 11 times today at the Yellow Poplar Lumber Mills in Coal Grove. They quarreled over a stacking bar which both wanted. Miller was arrested. Holliday cannot recover.

The Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio 9 Feb. 1905 – The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company of Ironton suffered a loss by fire of $50,000. The planting mill was destroyed, as also the dry house, together with much lumber.

Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, Ohio 26 Jan. 1910 – TIMBER COMING DOWN BIG SANDY – The next few days will find a very large amount of timber at the mouth of the Big Sandy river. Several days ago, the first big run made from the great splash dam at the headwaters, and but little of the timber then turned loose has reached here. It had to be caught and rafted, and that took considerable time. However, that has been done, and in the next two or three days, the entire 25,000 logs that were released will have reached the city.

Last week there were another 5,000 logs released by the dam, and they will soon be ready to be floated down the river. Many rafts reached here on Saturday and this forenoon, and their owners are away today taking the measurements. Much of it belongs to Vansant-Kitchen Company, while some of it will be taken to Ironton, where the Yellow Poplar Lumber Co. owns it, says the Catlettsburg Tribune.

The quantity already here would appear to be sufficient to keep the lumber mills busy for quite a while, but those familiar with the amount of work these mills are capable of doing say that they could very soon have the present supply cut into lumber.

The Cincinnati Enquirer 4 Jan 1913 – Lawsuit filed by trucker Henry Artis who was injured by unsafe conditions of Yellow Poplar Lumber Company. (the lawsuit was settled without knowledge of the terms of compromise given in March 1913)

When the 1913 flood hit the region, the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company suffered $90,000 in damages.

The Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, Ohio 12 Jan. 1915 – Head of Lumber Company Died – Ironton, Ohio Jan. 12 – C. M. Crawford, 55, president of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Co., of Coal Grove, Ohio, and treasurer of the National Association of Harwood Manufactures, is dead at his home here.

Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, Ohio – 16 Jan. 1915 – Plant is to Resume – The immense plant of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company of Ironton will resume Monday after a temporary layoff, January 18, giving employment to hundreds of men.

Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, Ohio – 22 Jan. 1915 – Crawford Will Filed – Ironton, Ohio Jan. 22 – The last will and testament of the late C. M. Crawford were filed for Probate Thursday afternoon by Attorneys Johnson and Jones. The instrument was made on December 26, 1914, and was witnessed by E. L. Lambert and Miss Blanche Wyatt of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company.

The will’s provisions made only the immediate family members beneficiaries, and the property valuation was not given. Mrs. Crawford, the widow of the deceased, is given a magnificent home on South Sixth street, the automobile, and an undivided third of the other property. She is also named executrix of the will and is to receive $2,000 for her services. The piano is given to Miss Louise, a daughter, and the remainder of the property is divided equally among the three children, Miss Louise, Will, and Charles, each to receive two-ninth. The court has not yet set a date for the probation of the instrument.

Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, Ohio – 26 Jan. 1916 – Will Use Railroad – The Ashland, Ky., Independent Thursday said:

“No more trials and tribulations for the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company in Coal Grove shortly, by the condition of the Ohio River getting too low or on a rampage to prevent them getting lumber, for most of the logs will be railroaded directly from the forests to the saws.”

“The N & W will have a force of about 100 men placing track into the plant and will soon be ready for use. The timber will then arrive by rail from West Virginia and Kentucky timber regions.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer, 9 Feb. 1916 – Deal in Lumber – Matewan, WV, Feb. 8 – The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, Ironton, Ohio, is reported to have purchased several hundred acres of timber, located on Pigeon and Island Creeks, Mingo and Logan Counties, from the United Thacker Land Company, New York. The consideration is not accurately known, although it involves several thousand dollars.

Portsmouth Daily Times, 26 April 1916 – Dear Dolly – Would you please give me the following information? When did the Portsmouth Fire Department go to Ironton to the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company fire? Please give the dates if they went twice to the Yellow Poplar Company. J.A.W.

The department only went to Ironton once, on or about September 30, 1897.

Portsmouth Daily Times, 14 Nov. 1916 – Strike Declared Ironton, Nov. 14 – Demanding a two cents an hour increase and rejecting the offer of a one-cent-an-hour raise, twenty-three lumbermen employed at the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company went on strike Monday. The strike greatly cripples the mill. The stackers get 19 cents an hour, and the truckers get 16 1/2 cents.

The Sandusky Star-Journal 18 Nov. 1916 – Ironton – The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company increased employees’ wages by 2 1/2 cents an hour.

The Sandusky Star-Journal 18 Nov. 1916 – Ironton, Aug. 1 – No Logs; Plant Idle. The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company’s plant closed on Saturday because of difficulty in getting logs.

Portsmouth Daily Times 26 May 1922 – 250 Employees Declare Strike – Refused an increase of 5 cents per hour. Two hundred fifty employees of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company of Ironton declared a strike Thursday.

Portsmouth Daily Times 11 Aug. 1922 – Fire Visits Ironton Plant – The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company’s big plant was threatened by fire Wednesday, which destroyed the log deck and boiler room.

Portsmouth Daily Times 17 Aug. 1922 – Firemen Get Reward – Ironton, Aug. 17 – Fire Chief E. M. Smith and all city firemen yesterday received a check for $5 each from the yellow Poplar Lumber Company as a mark of appreciation for the firemen’s efforts in fighting a fire at that plant last week. Good work on the part of the firemen, it was said, probably prevented a heavy loss to the company.

Portsmouth Daily Times 7 Feb. 1924 – Properties owned by Mr. Jordan include..the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company land, sold to the Whitaker-Glessner Company.

Portsmouth Daily Times 10 Nov. 1924 – Ironton Plant Sold; To Be Operated Ironton, Ohio – Nov. 10 – The Indiana Flooring Company, headed by D. W. Von Breman, who recently purchased the flooring plant of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company here, has overhauled the plant and expect to resume operation by December 1st.

Portsmouth Daily Times 21 Sept. 1925 – Open Negotiations for Yellow Poplar Lumber Company – Ironton, Ohio Sept. 21 – Negotiations have been entered into by the Indiana Flooring Company of New York for the purchase of the entire property of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company in Coal Grove. Although it is understood that the terms of sale had not been agreed upon, it is known that abstracts of the property were being made at the courthouse last week by attorneys representing the Indiana company. The latter company holds an option on the property which expires on October 2 of this year, and it is believed in reliable quarters that the sale will be consummated before that date.

Portsmouth Daily Times 28 Jan. 1928 – Plead Not Guilty – Ironton, Ohio Jan. 28 – Edward L. Lambert and Leon Isaacsen, formerly of this city and late of New York City, were indicted on charges of willfully exaggerating the financial condition of a corporation. In a bank statement, they were arraigned in common pleas court today and entered pleas of not guilty, reserving the right to file a motion to — demurrer to the indictment. They were placed under a bond of $5,000.

The two men were prominent citizens of this city at a time when the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company was located in Coal Grove.

Portsmouth Daily Times 16 May 1928 – Do you Remember? When was the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company located in New Boston?

The Akron Beacon Journal 29 Jan. 1929 – Cases Dismissed – Ironton, Ohio Jan. 29. – Cases of Edward L. Lambert and Leon Isaacsen, secretary and president of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, formerly of this city, but now of Greenville, SC, indicted in January 1927, for issuing false financial statements to secure a loan from the First National Bank of Ironton, were dismissed yesterday for want of prosecution.

This link will take you to more history of the Yellow Popular Lumber Company with photos.