Alphabet File page 279
Pearlington - Prosperous Lumber Town Near The Gulf.
Just a little distance (nine miles) above the mouth of the Pearl River, where the limpid and beautiful waters are poured into the bosom of Lake Borgne, and forty-four miles from New Orleans, is situated the bustling and thriving little city of Pearlington. It occupies a proud and beautiful position on the east bank of the river, and its 1500 inhabitants glory in the fact that no town along the entire river course, excepting Jackson, the capital of the State, equals it in point of population and commercial importance. * * * The steamer Pearlington makes two trips daily to English Lookout, La. making close connections with trains on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The steamer carries passengers and the mail. The schedule of the Pearlington is kept in perfect adjustment to that of the railroad, for the comfort and convenience of all passengers, and for speedy delivery of the mails. * * * The Pearlington is in charge of Captain R. S. Boardman, whose genial and obliging nature has won for him great popularity with the traveling public.
Besides this close contact with the Crescent City, Pearlington enjoys all the enlivenment and business advantages of constant and direct communication with the West Indies, Mexico and the States of Central and South America, through means of its immense lumber traffic.
The town is by no means youthful. Its history has covered a period of fully 100 years. The first settlements were made in the latter part of the last century. The oldest citizens remember it, and speak of it as a town of considerable size and business importance in their boyhood and girlhood days. IN 1820 the Pearlington Company was organized for the purpose of giving form to the town and developing its growth and prosperity. Capt. John Poitevent possesses a curiosity in the shape of a copy of the Pearl River Gazette, which was published at Jackson on the 9th of August, 1823. It contains an elaborate and interesting account of a Fourth of July celebration held at Pearlington that year. Even at that early date the population, thrift and public spirit, of the place were sufficiently great to insure a successful celebration. The programme on that occasion was full and inspiring, just such as proud American cities and towns delight to hold.
In this formative period of the town's history such men as Simon Farve, Wm. T Lenoir, Francis B. Lenoir, Gen. Geo. H. Nixon, Col. P. R. Pray, Issac Graves, Thomas Shields, Samuel White, John Parker, James Murphy, John B. Doby, F. Netto, G. Cassanova, Samuel Russ, Leonard Kimball, C. D. Larned and Willis H. Arnold were the leading spirits. They were men of great force of character, some of them were conspicuous figures in the history of Mississippi. Their names are held in the highest honor, and their descendants occupy proud and influential positions in business, social and religious circles.
At a latter day two men of mark figured in the life of the town, Capt. W. J. Poitevent and Col. J.F.H. Claiborne.
Capt. Poitevent was an enterprising and successful business man. He was the father of Captain John Poitevent, who is well known throughout all business circles as the president of the Poitevent & Farve Lumber Company, and president of the East Lousiana Railroad. He was also the father of the gifted Mrs. E. J. Nicholson.
Col. Claiborne was an author, scholar, and politician, who did valuable service to the coast section and to the state at large. His name is honored in the home of all intelligent Mississipians.
The business of the town at that early period was widely different from that of the present time.
Pearlington was then a cotton market of considerable importance. It was raised to a small extent in the adjacent country and brought in wagons from a distance.
The principal cotton supply, however, was from the rich and large plantations on and near the Pearl river, more than 100 miles above. This trade was carried on by means of flatboats. The cotton was brought down the river to Pearlington, transferred to schooners and shipped across Lake Ponchartrain to New Orleans. The shipment for some seasons amounted to from 3000 to 5000 bales. This brought great prosperity to other lines of business. A handsome revenue was also derived from stock raising. Immense herds of cattle and flock of sheep were pastured at as nominal expense upon the wide stretches of pine forest, which were covered with the finest grasses. The construction of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad (now the Illinois Central) was the death blow to the cotton trade, for this road did the business that had previously come down Pearl river to Pearlington.
It, however, proved a blessing instead of a curse, for it caused attention to be turned to the long neglected work of developing the immense resources of wealth in the yellow pine timber. Pearliington, in its present conditions of life and business, began in 1865, when Capt. John Poitevent came into position of a sawmill and began his wonderfully successful career in the lumber business. He was joined in this enterprise in 1866 by Capt. J. A. Farve who bought an interest in the mill. At the beginning these young men had but little means, but they had broad business views and unswerving faith in the largest possibilities of the lumber business. They were fertile in resources and wisely laid their plans for continued enlargement. The phenomenal success that has attended all their enterprises abundantly justifies the wisdom of their early views and plans. In twenty-five years they have grown from the management of a small sawmill to the ownership of the largest and perhaps the most valuable in the South. They have not only enlarged their business and amassed wealth, but have laid the foundation for prosperity to the entire town. Every line of business operated in Pearlington draws its support either directly or indirectly from the mammoth business of the Poitevent & Farve Lumber Company.
The mill plant of this enterprising company consist of two circular mills and one gang, having an aggregate daily capacity of 200,000 feet of lumber. They also have a planning mill of a very large capacity. These mills consume about 100,000 log each year. For many years the demand for logs was supplied, almost wholly, by raftman floating timber down Pearl river. This business is still carried on to a considerable extent. The principal supply, however, is from the extensive pine forest of St. Tammany and Washington parishes, La. about 100,000 acres of which are owned by Poitevent & Farve. The manifested farsightedness in the management of their lumber interest by purchasing several years ago that immense area of virgin forest, and by constructing a narrow gauge through it.
This road acts as a feeder for the mill plant. The logs are drawn by rail to the river and are then floated down to the mill sight. They are caught by an arrangement of piles and diverted into a canal, thence they are drawn by tugboats to the foot of the mill.
This log road gave birth to the East Louisiana Railroad. It was converted in 1887 into a standard system and extended to Mandeville. By this enterprise Messrs. Poitevent & Farve largely increased their revenue, and contributed to the development of the country contiguous to the railroad.
Pearlington enjoys prominence on account of the extensive operations and great volume of trade of its sawmills. The largest contracts are promptly and satisfactorily filled. Poitevent and Farve filled a contract for the Mississippi Jetties of 50,000,000 feet of lumber. They furnished about 20,000,000 feet of lumber for the New Orleans Exposition building and 5,000,000 for the St. Louis bridge. They have just shipped a bill of 1,000,000 feet to a South American port, and one of 700,000 feet to England. They own and operate four large sailing vessels and nine smaller and two tugboats. The large vessels have a capacity of 135,000 to 400,000 feet. They carry their valuable cargoes of lumber directly to the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America. The smaller vessels have a capacity of 35,000 to 55,000 feet. They carry lumber to New Orleans and to Ship Island where it is transferred to the largest vessels, which carry it to various parts of the world.