My
name is Joel Adam Tinsley. I am a
Junior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Science in Hot Springs. I am originally from Huttig, Arkansas, in
Union County. Since Huttig is my hometown,
I decided to look into its past and see its origins and development.
During
my research, I was surprised to discover that
my small town wouldn’t still be in existence if the Union Sawmill
Company had followed the lead of almost all of the other lumber mills in the
early 1910’s. Instead, they were one of
the first to adopt a sustained growth policy, which was later adopted by most
other sawmills. My town now stands as
an example of how important the lumber industry is to mill towns. On the other hand, Lori Vess‘s Arkansas
Memory web page discusses another, less fortunate town whose sawmill used a
“cut out and get out” strategy with the resources available. Her page gives a look at what happened to
all too many small towns who had their only industry leave.