By 1907, the Bradley Lumber Company in Warren, Arkansas, cut 100,000 board feet of lumber a day and employed 350 people.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas credits Samuel H. Fullerton with founding the company. It calls Bradley Lumber one of the world’s largest dealers in hardwood lumber.
Founding and the 1907 Output
Railroads reached Bradley County in the 1880s. Investors came for the shortleaf yellow pine of the West Gulf Coastal Plain.
Warren became home to three large mills. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas lists their 1907 figures:
- Southern Lumber Company: 100,000 board feet a day and 300 employees.
- Bradley Lumber Company: 100,000 board feet a day and 350 employees.
- Arkansas Lumber Company: 150,000 board feet a day and 400 employees.
The Encyclopedia says Warren’s population doubled between 1900 and 1910. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program adds that Arkansas Lumber Company clear-cut its 85,000 acres in 1928 and went out of business.
A Pine Town With a Hardwood Dealer
The county’s first boom ran on pine. The Encyclopedia still describes Bradley Lumber as one of the world’s largest dealers in hardwood lumber.
A postcard reproduced on the Bradley County ArGenWeb site gives the company’s own description. It places the general office and plant amid the company’s timber holdings. It lists sawmilling of Arkansas soft pine, mild-textured oak and other native hardwoods. It names hardwood flooring, furniture stock, pine millwork and construction materials as products. The card carries no date.
The same page shows a magazine advertisement for pre-finished hardwood flooring from Bradley Lumber Company of Arkansas. The advertisement ran in American Builder in August 1944.
The Company Store on Main Street
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program wrote a walking-tour script for downtown Warren in 2012. It records two company sites:
- Warehouse and commissary: From at least 1910 until the mid-1920s, Bradley Lumber had a warehouse and commissary at Main and Church streets. The script places the old Warren post office on that corner.
- Bradley Store: Built in 1920 at 215 S. Main, the store belonged to Bradley Lumber. Workers shopped there with company scrip and settled up at the end of each week.
In the 1950s, J. J. Neal bought the Bradley Store building and opened a General Dollar Store in it.
Potlatch Buys the Mill
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas dates the purchase of the Bradley and Southern lumber firms by Potlatch Inc. to 1958. The tour script puts Potlatch’s purchase of Southern in 1956 and of Bradley Lumber two years later. Both sources agree on 1958 for Bradley.
Where to See Warren’s Timber History
- Bradley County Historical Museum: The museum occupies the Dr. John Wilson Martin House, the oldest known residence in Bradley County. Construction began about 1860. The Warren Women’s Club bought the house in 1987 for the museum.
- Warren and Ouachita Valley Railroad Depot: The depot stands at 325 W. Cedar Street. The Southern and Arkansas lumber companies built the short-line railroad in 1899 to serve their mills. The depot went up in 1909 and was rebuilt on the same site after a fire in 1911. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
- Former Bradley Store: The 2012 script lists the building at 215 S. Main.
Confirm museum hours before a visit. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is one of seven agencies in the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
Hardwood Furniture in Southeast Arkansas Today
Saline River Workshop builds solid hardwood furniture. Its contact page lists a workshop in Wilmar, Arkansas. This article makes no claim that the workshop is connected to the company.
Read how county timber history connects to custom furniture in Warren, Arkansas Hardwood and Custom Furniture. Learn about the river that forms the Bradley and Drew county line in Saline River Bottomland Hardwoods. Browse the collections.
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