Marshall McClung
Whiting Lumber Company was another firm that moved into Graham County, arriving in 1910. The company was based in Maryland and owned by William Scott Whiting.
At one time, Whiting Lumber owned vast tracts of timberland in Graham County – including 16,000 acres on West Buffalo and Snowbird, and 25,000 acres in the Santeetlah Creek, Bear Creek and Deep Creek areas.
All of these properties were purchased by either Bemis Lumber Company or Gennett Lumber Company.
Whiting had big plans for Graham County that failed to materialize. In 1912, the company began construction of a railroad from Topton to Robbinsville but never finished it. Bemis later took over the project and the first train rolled into Robbinsville on July 4, 1925.
Whiting had other plans for the county that also never happened. Locals called them “air castles,” which bled away with the wind.
Included were plans to:
* Build a tannic acid plant;
* Construct a railroad from Robbinsville to Knoxville;
* Purchase the entire town of Robbinsville;
* Construct a huge logging camp;
* Purchase approximately ⅔ of Graham County.
Robert Burns wrote a poem titled To A Mouse in 1785. It contains the words “The best laid plans of men and mice go oft astray.”
Apparently this holds true for large companies also.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.