Chicago Mill and Lumber Company Collection

Title

Chicago Mill and Lumber Company Collection

Subject

Lumber trade
Industrial buildings
Logging
Lumber
Machinery
Factories
Mills and mill-work
Papermaking
Lumbering--Machinery
Paper products industry
Paper industry
Illinois--Chicago
Paepcke, Walter P. (Walter Paul), 1896-1960
Paepcke, Hermann, 1851-1922

Description

Hermann Paepcke founded the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company in the 1880s. Originally begun as the Paepcke-Wagner Company operating as a small lumber mill, the business grew to include box-making operations. The company eventually became a major lumber distribution company in Chicago. In 1898 a second location in Greenville, Mississippi opened and operated as the Paepcke-Leicht Lumber Company through the 1920s. Additional locations opened in Blytheville and Helena, Arkansas, and Cairo, Illinois. 

After Hermann Paepcke died in 1922, his son, Walter, took over the company. In 1926, Walter Paepcke merged the Container Corporation of America into the company, leading the company to become the largest paper container producer in the United States during the 1940s.

The Chicago Mill and Lumber Company was purchased in 1965 and continued to operate from its Greenville, Mississippi, facility until 1980.

Photographs in this collection include images of the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company's business operations from cutting trees in the woods through the manufacture and shipment of paper, corrugated paperboard, and boxes.

Collection Items

1. General View Standing Timber
An area designated for logging is filled with trees.

3. Falling Timber
Three men chop and cut a tree in a wooded area.

4. Cross-cutting
Two men use a crosscut saw to cut a fallen tree into logs.

5. Views of Log Dump
A large number of cut logs are ready for transport to the sawmill for cutting.

8. Pulling Logs Into Log Yard with Skidder
A skidder pulls cut logs into a large pile.

9. Getting Ready to Load Logs on Cars
A man sits on a mule in front of a large pile of cut logs.

10. Hauling to Right-of-way with Mule Team
Six mules haul a wagon carrying three cut logs.

11. Loading Cars
Men use a lift to load cut logs onto a train bound for the mill.

12. Loaded Train Ready to Go to the Mill
Workers ride a train loaded with cut logs to the mill.

13. Train Arrives at Mill
A large crane unloads cut logs from the train into the log yard.

14. Unloading Onto Mill Log Yard
A large crane unloads cut logs from the train into the log yard.

15. General View of Log Yard and Mill
A crane sits between a large pile of logs and the mill building.

17. Pushing Raft Down Stream
A steamboat pushes a raft across the river and towards the mill.

18. Towing Barge
A steamboat tows a barge across the river and towards the mill.

19. Loaded Barges Brought Into Harbor
A large barge loaded with cut logs enters the harbor near the mill.

22. Logs Starting on the Road to Manufactured Products
A crane lifts cut logs onto a conveyor system from the mill's log yard.

23. Exit Logs
A crane loads cut logs into the mill for manufacturing.

101. Ready for the Saw
Lumbermen watch as the mill's saw cuts a large log.

102. One of the Outside Cuts
Lumbermen watch the mill's saw cut the outside of a large log.

103. Plain Sawing
The mill's saw makes precision cuts to a large log.

104. After Squaring the Log
A large log sits next to the saw after it was cut and squared off.

107. Edger
A worker feeds a cut board into an edger to create straight and smooth edges.

108. Manner of Trimming
Lumber moves through a trimming machine within the sawmill.

109. Sorting Slip
Workers look for defects and imperfections in cut boards in the sorting room.

201. Drag-saw Cutting Off Veneer Blocks
A worker watches as a saw makes large circular cuts from a log.
View all 100 items

Collection Tree