Ferguson and Wheeler Sawmill

Ferguson & Wheeler Sawmill, Corning, AR.  The mill was located on the west bank of Black River just south of the present Highway 62 bridge.  A tram line ran from Corning to the mill, crossing Corning Lake on the north end.  “Ferguson and Wheeler Mill, Corning, ARK.” “Black River Mill” “Aug 23”.  Obviously wrong date as there is snow on the ground.  Frank D. Bennett to Marylea Vines.

From the Clay County Courier:

"A view of the Ferguson-Wheeler log pond on the West bank of Black River.  The sawmill site was the original location of the Hecht Brothers, Levi and Solomon.  Rafts floated the sawed material down Black River to market.  Hecht Brothers maintained a commissary for the mill hands and a post office had been established that was known as Hecht City.  When the Cairo and Fulton, in 1871, surveyed the route for their line about a mile to the West of Hecht City, the commissary was moved to a location on Block 22 in Corning, the name for the settlement after 1873...  Since the town had not yet been laid out by the railroad company, the Hect Building and the D. Monday Saloon, a block North, were far out in the street and removing them as street obstructions was one of the frustrations the City Dads had in the eighties."

Submitted by Danny Moore