In 1898 Hermann Paepcke purchased a sawmill and twenty-five thousand acres of standing timber near Lake Ferguson in Greenville, Mississippi, from J.H Leavenworth. There he established the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, which grew to over one hundred twenty-five thousand acres of land by 1909.The company operated as the Paepcke-Leicht Lumber Company through the 1920s. Other subsidiaries of the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company were established in Blytheville and Helena, Arkansas, and in Cairo, Illinois.
This collection contains Chicago Mill and Lumber Company memorabilia ranging from the 1950s-2000s.
Box1:
Chicago Mill and Lumber Company Safe Worker 1980 Jacket
Columbus and Greenville Boxcar from Lionel Electric Trains
Henderson and Baird Howe 77th year miniature baseball bat for Bruner Ivory
Small metal National Safe Deposit
Greenville Steam Bottling Works glass bottle
A small locked wooden box
A gear from the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company
Box 2:
Polk’s Greenville, MS City Directory 1956
A stick of Green Lumber Crayons
An Old Piece of Equipment (wood, bolts, chain, hooks)
Chicago Mill and Lumber Company certified C. Fred Berry
Apron from Chicago Mill and Lumber Company
Desk Calendar year 2000
Mitten with #2 Greenville C.C., Greenville, MS
Box 3:
Golden Pot
Old Tape Measurer
A rusted Nail
A big nail
Chain and 2 objects attached to the chain
H.N. Alexander and Sons Apron
A small locked wooden bank vault
Electric car train, Columbus and Greenville
Books of matches (31)
A small cotton bale
Visitors pass button to Chicago Mill and Lumber Co.
A small ceramic pitcher
U.S. Army Air Forces Greenville Army Ashtray
United States Army Medical Department saucer
Department of the Navy saucer
3 Lumber Crayons
3 stamps Chicago Mill and Lumber Company
2 Books of Matches
Small rusty nail
2 pencils
2 buttons C.M. and L. Co 1178 Greenville, Ms
Bottle Cap opener
This page is just a small component of sub-series IV (Material Collections) of the McCormick collection. To view the collection in its entirety please visit Delta State University Archives and Museum in Cleveland, Mississippi or for more information please contact the Delta State Archives at 662.846.4780
