Wier Longleaf Lumber Company
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The Wier Longleaf Lumber Company was a lumber and milling operation established by Robert W. Wier in East Texas that ran from 1917 until 1944. During that period, the company clearcut more than 86,000 acres of virgin pine forest in Newton, Jasper and Sabine counties. Because the city fathers of nearby Burkeville did not appreciate the rough workers Wier's company brought in, Wier established two new towns, Wiergate and Bon Wier, four miles away to house the company's employees. In its heyday, the mill could process approximately 200,000 feet of longleaf yellow pine every 10 hours. Wier also established a railroad to connect the mill and town to Newton. Towards the end of the Second World War, Wier sold his operation and closed down the mill, leading to the decline of Wiergate and Bon Wier.
Although Wier Longleaf Lumber Company provided desperately needed jobs for many poor in this area of the rural South during the Great Depression, this came at the expense of environmental damage and the diminishment of ecological diversity. Whereas before the region was home to southern magnolia, black cherry, and white ash trees, the company reseeded the area with faster-growing loblolly pines. Because by an act of the State of Texas much of this area is now legally protected, the region has begun to redevelop its prior biodiversity.
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