Fonds MG 1 volumes 254-255 - Davison Lumber Company

The Davison Lumber Company, which existed from 1903-1921, originated as a small lumbering, farming and fishing business in Mill Village, Queens County, Nova Scotia in the early 19th century. It was owned and operated by the prominent Davison family. Edward D. Davison (1819-1894) assumed control of the business in 1837. He built the first steam sawmills in Nova Scotia in 1845 and 1850. After a devastating fire in Mill Village, the business was moved to Bridgewater in 1865 and assumed the name E.D. Davison & Sons. It was now a family conglomerate run by Edward and his three sons: Henry, Edward Jr., and Frank. The business grew with a steady absorption of smaller competitors. By the 1890s it was the largest lumber company in NS, with a virtual monopoly in the South Shore lumber industry, employing more than 350 men and 50 teams of horses. Edward D. Davison Sr. died in 1894, the same year the company incorporated. His eldest son, Henry died in 1896. The remaining management team – Frank and his cousin Archie – found it difficult to maintain the company and in 1903 sold the firm to the American Lumber Company. The name was changed to Davison Lumber Company, incorporated in 1903 with head office in New York and local office near Bridgewater. The restructured company reached a plateau of success in the first decade of the 20th century, owning over 325,000 acres of woodland. At the end of World War 1 (1918) sales slowed down, although 16 lumber camps were still producing for the mills at Hastings and Bridgewater, NS. By 1920 slumping markets combined with large overhead costs, effectively terminated the business. The company went into bankruptcy in 1921.