You may have heard of the Roper Lumber Company, perhaps in connection with the Great Fire of 1922. While New Bern’s Roper Mill was the largest sawmill in North Carolina, the successful business enterprise extended far beyond our town. Join author Bill Barber with Timber, Land & Railroads: A History of the John L. Roper Lumber Company at New Bern Historical Society’s Lunch and Learn on Wednesday, February 7 at 11:30am at Carolina Colours Pavilion.
Barber will provide an account of the timber boom that swept across coastal North Carolina following the Civil War. This green gold rush brought thousands of speculators, lumbermen, railroaders, and loggers to exploit the untapped timber resources of the vast swampy wilderness. With sawmills came boom towns, employment for thousands of local inhabitants, and the first industry in many of the coastal counties. The John L. Roper Lumber Company led the way in building railroads, organizing the lumbermen from three states into the North Carolina Pine Association, and rebranding what had been considered an inferior product into lumber that dominated the market as “North Carolina Pine.” Roper’s timber empire spread from Norfolk, Virginia, to Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Bill Barber retired after a career of forty years working as a forester in Eastern North Carolina. Familiar with the thousands of acres of timberland in the area, he became interested in the history and the lore of the forest products industry. His books, Buffalo City and the Blount Patent: A History of Logging the Dare Mainland and Tyrrell Timber: A History of the Branning Manufacturing Company and Richmond Cedar Works, explore the history of land speculators and timbermen from the Great Dismal Swamp to the Alligator River.
Prepaid reservations are required and are available at www.NewBernHistorical.org or at the New Bern Historical Society office at 511 Broad St., or 252-638-8558. Cost is $24 for Historical Society members and $27 for nonmembers, which includes new buffet meal format. Two entrees are included along with salad, sides, rolls, and dessert. Iced tea, coffee, service, and gratuity are all included; wine and beer are available for purchase.