One of the most thriving industries of the County of Norfolk is the
lumbering business of Messrs. A. & E. McCall, of Charlotteville. They began business
in 1865, when they bought a steam saw mill and a small quantity of standing pine from D.
W. McCall, Esq. The mill stood on lot 11, in the 6th concession of Charlotteville, and was
operated by the firm until 1874, when it was burned down, by which misfortune they lost
about $5,000, having no insurance. In 1875, they rebuilt it, and bought from John E.
Potts, Esq. of Simcoe, an extensive tract of standing pine timber, and in the same year
built a second steam saw mill on lot 19, in the 19th concession of the same Township.
In
their two mills they produce about 4,000,000 feet of lumber per annum, and give employment
to about thirty-five men. In the spring of the present year they opened a lumber yard at
the Canada Air Line Railway Station at Simcoe, where the greater portion of the cut of
their mills is assorted and piled away to season. This branch of their business is under
the management of Mr. Alexander McCall, the senior partner, who resides at Simcoe.
The
firm have owned and built a number of vessels since 1865. They have wholly or partly owned
the schooners "Saucy Jack," "Rosa Stearns," "Argo,"
"David Sharpe," "Union," and "D.W. McCall," the two latter
being still owned by the firm. They are the most extensive holders of standing pine in the
County or any of the adjoining counties, the quantity owned by them being over 25,000,000
feet. The Great Western Railway Company, recognizing the importance of the Messrs.
McCall's trade, have built a siding from the main track through the entire length of their
lumber yard, thus giving them unusual facilities for shipping their lumber. |
