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On Beyond Leatherbark: The Cass Saga
Book by Clarkson, Roy B.
625 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 14, 2016
The Cass Saga tells the tale of a small West Virginia town that rises almost overnight in the wooded valley with the sudden interest of lumber companies. The heyday of the town peaked in the 1920s, however logging operations continued at various levels through the 1950s.
Hometown Author Roy Clarkson gives a thorough look at the aspects that made life what it was through the years, how the logs were initially ’driven’ down the rivers, a method eventually replaced by the steam trains, how the lumber company functioned, the variety of schools, stores and personalities in the town.
The details are enough that you could recreate making lumber, from the felling of the tree, getting it to the and processing it in the plant as well as what the working men ate everyday and how it was cooked. Sometimes the details go right down to the names of the horses.
I found the final chapters the most interesting, they deal more with the townspeople, how all the events of the era created a society.
The logging operations brought steam locomotives. When logging stopped in the region, many small towns disappeared. The same was to happen to Cass, but interest in preserving the trains led to the creation of a scenic railway, which is now a mecca for train enthusiasts of any level. The company homes in the town have now also been renovated giving visitors a look back into a long ago time.
This book fills in the blanks, which also has 200 black and white, page size photos.
Hometown Author Roy Clarkson gives a thorough look at the aspects that made life what it was through the years, how the logs were initially ’driven’ down the rivers, a method eventually replaced by the steam trains, how the lumber company functioned, the variety of schools, stores and personalities in the town.
The details are enough that you could recreate making lumber, from the felling of the tree, getting it to the and processing it in the plant as well as what the working men ate everyday and how it was cooked. Sometimes the details go right down to the names of the horses.
I found the final chapters the most interesting, they deal more with the townspeople, how all the events of the era created a society.
The logging operations brought steam locomotives. When logging stopped in the region, many small towns disappeared. The same was to happen to Cass, but interest in preserving the trains led to the creation of a scenic railway, which is now a mecca for train enthusiasts of any level. The company homes in the town have now also been renovated giving visitors a look back into a long ago time.
This book fills in the blanks, which also has 200 black and white, page size photos.
February 22, 2015
Great book and photos. Covers a narrow topic but if you've ever been to the area you'll find this interesting.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews