The Development of Michigan and the Rise of the Lumber Industry

Between 1840 and 1900, lumbering changed from a small business to a profitable and mechanized industry. Michigan became a top producer for much of this period, and Michigan was also the place for industry innovations.

In the 19th century, Michigan’s timber industry made more money and more millionaires than California’s Gold Rush. Much of Michigan’s financial and industrial success beginning in the 20th century was funded by this wealth.

Around 1850, a major advance in the industry was achieved with the use of the improved circular saw in mill operations. Logging grew rapidly, and the circular saw made Michigan the leading lumber producing state at the end of the Civil War. Michigan cut over 500 million board feet of lumber per year from this point on until the supply of timber was exhausted. During the 1870′s, three innovations made logging more productive. The crosscut saw was improved. A device called “Big Wheels” enabled logs to be moved year-round by a team of horses. In 1875, the first railroad to haul logs became operational. By 1889, 89 of these railroads were running.

Most of the pine trees in the Lower Peninsula were gone by 1900. Pine logging in the Upper Peninsula became more important in the 1880s, and the virgin stands of pine were gone by 1920. With the introduction of these revolutionary methods of lumber processing, Michigan’s great timber harvest topped out in 1890 when mills cut 5 billion board feet of lumber. Increasing industrialization and national expansion created the large demand for timber products

At the end of the timber boom, 19 million acres had been stripped and not one acre of this land was replanted. The State was strewn with vast tracts of completely barren land.

Logging was the beginning of the long, profitable industrial revolution in Michigan.