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Industrial Development (1.4.4)

The industrial capacity of Elizabeth City in the years following the Civil War was limited. The Branson's North Carolina Business Directories provide a periodic list of industrial concerns in operation between 1867 and 1898. In 1867 the only industry in town was the steam grist and saw mill of White and [W. W.] Griffin, located along the riverfront. By 1869, the saw mill of the Land and Lumber Company was in operation, there were several additional grist mills in the county, and George W. Bell was operating a gun shop at 104 South Road Street. The accuracy or completeness of these lists is open to question (Branson 1867-68, 89; 1869, 126-127).

The industrial expansion of the town quickened during the 1870s, in large part because of the introduction.of northern capital and experience. Lumber industries led the way. By 1873 the saw mill of D. S. Kramer was building and selling windows, doors, blinds, moldings, flooring, siding, and "scroll work," and in early 1877 it was making 1,500 fish boxes a month (Kramer 1967, 12, 13). With the failure of the Land and Lumber Company in i873, their plant along the river was taken over by the planing mill of Conroe, Bush, and Lippencott, another endeavor financed by northern capitalists. Lumber activity quickened and at the close of the decade the town could boast of four saw mills--Kramer, J. R. Dillon and Company, W. W. Griffin, and D. P. Miller--with a total output of 14,800,000 feet of lumber, 180,000 feet of lathing, and 50,000 shingles; the Kramer mil1 manufactured over half of the lumber (1880 Census, Schedule of Manufactures). To meet the growing demand for North Carolina lumber, in 1880 Kramer expanded again, constructing a large saw and planing mill along Poindexter Creek, a stream that was channelled and covered in the 1920s for the construction of East Elizabeth Street. Kramer's old site at the end of Burgess Street was acquired the next year by the Elizabeth City and Norfolk Railroad for their railroad shops (Kramer 1967, 19).

With lumber manufacturing leading the way, industrial endeavors increased during the late 1870s. 1872 and 1877-1878 editions of the Branson directories record a variety of industries in or near Elizabeth City. Several antebellum industries continued in operation: William H. Clark's agricultural implement factory until the mid 1870s; W. W. White's flour, corn, and saw mill until the turn of the century (both located along the riverfront); and George W. Bell's gun shop (104 South Broad Street) until the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1877-1878 there were also three manufacturers of carriages and wagons, two shipbuilders (James F. Snell and J. Lawrence and Son), a saddle and harness shop, a brick making establishment, a blacksmith shop, and two cabinet makers, both of whom were also undertakers (Branson 1872, 181-182; 1878, 237-239; 1884, 158; 1890, 510; 1896, 480).