Dublin Core
Title
Bellamy Planning Mill Company/Acme Lumber Company
Subject
Industry
Description
The Bellamy Planning Mills of the East Florence area of Sweetwater was incorporated on May 1st, 1901. The founders chose to situate Bellamy Planning Mills near Sweetwater Creek on present day Veterans Drive. The founders of the Bellamy Planning Mill were President, A.D. Bellamy (also the founder of Florence Wagon Works); Secretary, W.M. Richardson (who would own his own lumberyard in Florence eventually); and Attorney, John T. Ashcraft, who was one of several founders of the Ashcraft Cotton Mill. By 1903, the Bellamy Planning Mill was doing about seventy-five thousand dollars’ worth of business per year while using about three million feet of lumber per year and employing a force of thirty men. Bellamy’s mill did business across the South and Midwest selling building materials for framing, ceilings, porch columns, and balusters to name a few. They also sold Sherwin Williams Paints and Acme Cement Plaster in addition to the wood products. Eventually, Bellamy sold the planning mill to a partnership of Lewellen and Robbins.
When A.M. Lewellen and Robbins bought the Bellamy Planning Mill, they renamed it Acme Lumber Company. Acme Lumber Company had an important, albeit tragic, role in Florence during the 1918 Spanish influenza outbreak that occurred while Wilson Dam was under construction. Because of the influenza outbreak, Acme ran three full shifts a day to build enough coffins for the countless numbers of deceased workers since the lumberyard was located across the river from the camps of the workers building Wilson Dam. The majority of the deceased were immigrant Cuban workers buried in common graves, and most had no known immediate relatives or survivors. After the end of the Spanish influenza, not much information can be found on Acme Lumber Company on the fate of the lumber company itself.
When A.M. Lewellen and Robbins bought the Bellamy Planning Mill, they renamed it Acme Lumber Company. Acme Lumber Company had an important, albeit tragic, role in Florence during the 1918 Spanish influenza outbreak that occurred while Wilson Dam was under construction. Because of the influenza outbreak, Acme ran three full shifts a day to build enough coffins for the countless numbers of deceased workers since the lumberyard was located across the river from the camps of the workers building Wilson Dam. The majority of the deceased were immigrant Cuban workers buried in common graves, and most had no known immediate relatives or survivors. After the end of the Spanish influenza, not much information can be found on Acme Lumber Company on the fate of the lumber company itself.
Creator
Matthew C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama
Source
Text Sources:
"Florence As She Is." The Florence Times. 1903.
McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence, Ala.: Florence Historical Board, 1989.
McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Bluewater Publications, 2002.
Garrett, Jill Knight. "A History of Lauderdale County, Alabama." Columbia, Tenn., Privately Published, 1968.
Picture Source:
UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Bellamy Planning Mill/Acme Lumber Company.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-32.
"Florence As She Is." The Florence Times. 1903.
McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence, Ala.: Florence Historical Board, 1989.
McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Bluewater Publications, 2002.
Garrett, Jill Knight. "A History of Lauderdale County, Alabama." Columbia, Tenn., Privately Published, 1968.
Picture Source:
UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Bellamy Planning Mill/Acme Lumber Company.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-32.
Publisher
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
Date
The Early Twentieth Century
Format
Image