Loading Charcoal at Danby Station, Vermont

Abstract

The Cover Design LOADING CHARCOAL AT DANBY STATION, VERMONT VICTOR R. ROLANDO Nestled in a high valley in south-central Vermont was one of the most intense areas of charcoal making in the northeastern United States. Here, in the town of Mount Tabor, hundreds of men cut wood and hauled logs down sometimes-treacherous mountain trails to the sawmill at the logging village of Griffith. Although it was less than 10 miles from the village to a main road, a railroad station, and outside civilization, in the late 19th century the winding road down the mountain was almost as bad as some of the logging trails, effectively isolating the little village. Griffith was named for (and probably by) Silas L. Griffith, a native of Danby, which borders Mount Tabor on the west. A descendant of one of the town’s earliest settlers, Griffith acquired a significant interest in logging and lumbering mills in the Danby-Mount Tabor-Dorset area of Vermont. It was his concern for the amount of slash, cull logs, and other discarded waste from the sawmills that prompted him in 1872 to start making charcoal from this otherwise unused wood. In addition to his charcoal and lumbering businesses, Griffith had large holdings in nearby towns. His total property exceeded 50,000 acres, he owned more than 200 horses, and his payroll included over 600 people. He cut about 24,000 feet of spruce and 1 million feet of hardwood for lumber, as well as 1,000 cords of fuel wood, most ofwhich became charcoal. He was a pioneer in the substitution of saws for axes, thereby reducing waste. All lumber not marketable became charcoal. He even found a market for the sawdust, possibly for packing and storing blocks of ice. He owned nine sawmills, at least three dozen charcoal kilns, and six general stores. From large stocks maintained at the major store at Danby, other smaller stores at his logging villages and camps drew their supplies. Mr. Roiando is a research associate with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the Green Mountain National Forest, past president of the Vermont Archaeological Society, and an officer in the Northern New England Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology. His major work is 200 Years of Soot and Sweat: The History and Archeology of Vermont’ s Iron, Charcoal, and Lime Industries, from which this article is drawn.© 1994 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/94/3502-0006$01.00 383 384 Victor R. Rolando Each of Griffith’s mills was connected to his main office at Danby by a private telephone wire. His office was very modern and elegant for the time—lighted by acetylene gas and heated by hot water. To satisfy his needs and those of the town he built a waterworks, drawing from a spring 2 miles from the village, and he opened a public meat market. He served in the Vermont Senate and was often mentioned as a candidate for governor, but always declined. Griffith’s charcoal areas were mainly in the town of Mount Tabor, where he operated at least thirty-two charcoal kilns. Four more kilns operated in the valley at Danby Station (although inside the town of Mount Tabor, Danby Station took its name from the village of Danby, a half mile to the west). Each of these operations supported settlements of woodchoppers, colliers, and teamsters, along with their families. The village of Griffith had a post office and schoolhouse, plus from forty to fifty structures that included the large steam-operated sawmill building, a boardinghouse for single men, tenant houses and cottages for families, a general store and office, a harness shop, wagon shop, blacksmith shop, and stables. The houses were furnished rent free, supplies could be purchased at near cost, and as many needs as possible were met on the spot.' From this settlement, a hundred men in gangs of twelve to fifteen each cut wood from October to April. Some remained in the woods, living in log shanties, while others returned nightly to the settlement. The Mount Tabor kilns annually converted 20,000 cords of wood into 1 million bushels of charcoal...