The saw mill was built in 1900 on
the banks of the Fourche and in 1902 the Fourche River Lumber Company was in operation. Residents emboldened by the power of the mills
petitioned to change the name from Esau to Bigelow (N.P. Bigelow was the president of Fourche Lumber) in
1914.
The mills heyday ended with the
closure of the Fourche River Lumber Company in 1921. Hundreds of families
were suddenly left with no source of income and were forced to move to new
lumber camps. Today,
Bigelow has few commercial businesses and a much smaller population (pop.329) than that
of the turn of the century.
I like the second card even more than the first, but they're both great as historical records. I can imagine how devastating it must have been for families to suddenly lose their livelihood.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I live and work in Bigelow and have been trying to find pictures of the mill for years! Have you seen any other postcards of Fourche River Lumber Company? I saw where the first one had the words "one of a series of views!!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't run across any other cards of the mill, although I do keep an eye out for them! Thanks for checking out the cards and leaving a comment!
DeleteSince writing the above message, I found one other photo collage of shots of the mill but unfortunately it had just recently sold on DelCampe auction site drat it! I would have paid twice or more for it than the winner did if I'd known about it in time! Trying to get at least "copies" of ANY shots of the mill site to put in the files of the library at the elementary school in Bigelow for our kids to use when studying the history of the town...sigh.
DeleteIf you'd like some high-resolution scans of the cards I posted, I would be more than willing to send them to you!
DeleteOh my gosh! YES! I would LOVE to have some high res scans of these two postcards to put with all the other information I have on Bigelow in the files at school. My fourth grade teachers in particular will be over the moon since they actually teach Bigelow history rather than just a general Arkansas history in their class. Their kids get such a kick out of learning about the history of Bigelow because all they (or even their parents) have ever known is the sleepy little town it is now and they just cannot believe it was once quite a thriving little metropolis! My email address is dmorse@bigelow.k12.ar.us if you could send the scans to that address. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you on this! I guess it just didn't cross my mind to even think about being made such a generous offer for our kids. But something just told me tonight to look at your website again and I am sooooo glad that I did!
DeleteWhat is left of that iron bridge is still standing across the Fourche lafave river.Its a swing bridge, or turntable used to turn the locomotives in the opposite direction. West of bigelow High School there is a shale pit on the river you can see it from there.
ReplyDeleteI'm a local resident (17 years old) of Bigelow and i've adventured out across whats left of the bridge a few times. Almost all of the wood has fallen into the river, and the far side of the turn around bridge has fallen into the river. Also the old train tracks are completely over grown with some nasty thorns. The old shale pit is being used a dump and sometimes a gun range until the road was closed off.
DeleteI guess nothing lasts forever but it's nice to be able to look back...one of the reasons I love old postcards. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteHi, I was researching this mill online and found your blog. The second card you show is similar to one I have which I'm about to run on eBay along with other lumber mill advertising cards. I think this is the only Fourche River Lumber Company one I have. It shows bundles of wood stacked on railroad flat cars. I have numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6 of a series for Alexander Gilmer Lumber Co. of Remlig, Texas. You can find my auctions under the seller name Onestellarseller. Hope it's ok to post this. I'm sure you'll take it down if it isn't. Barbara
ReplyDelete