Abstract
This chapter will chronicle the impetus for, and the early history of the heavy timber construction type. It will provide a brief look at early-nineteenth century East Coast buildings and the exorbitant number of fires that forced a change in construction. This chapter will focus heavily on the early development of heavy timber construction, including the formative 1835 summit of Rhode Island mill owners, which laid out the foundational requirements for what became known as heavy timber construction. The chapter will then close out with the spread of heavy timber construction along the East Coast and into the South.
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Notes
- 1.
‘The State of the Manufacturing Trades.’ Scientific American, XXV.13 (1871), p. 200.
- 2.
David R. Meyer, ‘The Roots of American Industrialization, 1790–1860.’ Economic History Services, (2003).
- 3.
Meyer, 2003.
- 4.
Rui M. Pereira and William J. Hausman, Railroads and Economic Growth in the Antebellum United States, (Williamsburg: College of William and Mary, 2014), p. 5.
- 5.
Pereira, p. 5.
- 6.
Pereira, p. 5.
- 7.
Meyer Weinberg, ‘Rise of the Capitalist Class, 1790–1865.’ New History, (2002).
- 8.
Kenneth L. Sokoloff, ‘Invention, Innovation, and Manufacturing Productivity Growth in the Antebellum Northeast.’ American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the Civil War, (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992), p. 352.
- 9.
Sokoloff, p. 352.
- 10.
Randolph Langenbach, Better than Steel? (Part 2): Tall Wooden Factories and the Invention of “Slow-Burning” Heavy Timber Construction, (Oakland: Conservation tech Consulting, 2010).
- 11.
Langenbach, 2010.
- 12.
Langenbach, 2010.
- 13.
‘Monmouth Mutual Fire Insurance Company .’ Maine Farmer and Journal of the Useful Arts, 7.51 (1839), p. 403.
- 14.
C. E. Paul, Heavy Timber Mill Construction Buildings, (Chicago: Engineering Bureau, National Lumber Manufacturers Assoc., 1916), p. 6.
- 15.
Paul, p. 6.
- 16.
Paul, p. 6.
- 17.
Langenbach, 2010.
- 18.
‘Fire-Proof Buildings.’ Circular, 3.116 (1854), p. 462.
- 19.
‘Fire-Proof Structures.’ Flag of Our Union, 12.26 (1857), p. 205.
- 20.
‘The Builder’s Manual.’ Mechanics’ Magazine, and Journal of the Mechanics’ Institute, 1837, p. 198.
- 21.
Winston Wallace Clement, Standardization in the Lumber Industry: Trade Journals, Builder’s Guides and the American Home, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2014), p. 19.
- 22.
Richard E. Greenwood, ‘Providence One Hundred Years Ago—The Industrial Heyday.’ City of Providence City Archives, (2011).
- 23.
Greenwood, 2011.
- 24.
Edward Connors, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form— Heaton & Cowing Mill , (Riverside: Edward Connors and Associates, 2012), pp. 3–5.
- 25.
‘History of Fire and Fire Protection in Nineteenth Century Woonsocket.’ City of Woonsocket, Woonsocket Fire Department.
- 26.
MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report Brockton, (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Commission, 1981), pp. 1, 14
- 27.
Toni Ristau, Mill Architecture in Paterso n, NJ: A Culmination of the Empirical Tradition in Construction, Proc. of Symposium on Industrial Arch aeology, New Jersey, Paterson, (Paterson: Northeast Historical Archaeology, 1975), p. 59
- 28.
‘Great Fire at Paterson.’ The New York Times, 14 December 1871, p. 1.
- 29.
Edward Pessen, ‘How Different from Each Other Were the Antebellum North and South?’ The American Historical Review, 85.5 (1980), p. 1125.
- 30.
Karen Lang-Kummer and A. Rebecca Harrison, National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form: Shockoe Valley and Tobacco Row Historic District, (Richmond: Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, 1982), p. 2.
- 31.
‘Cultivation of a Tobacco Empire.’ North Carolina Historic Sites, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Office of Archives & History, (2014).
- 32.
Claudia R. Brown and M. Ruth Little, National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form: American Tobacco Company Manufacturing Plant, (Raleigh: North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, 2000), pp. 6–7.
References
Brown, Claudia R., and M. Ruth Little. 2000. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form—American Tobacco Company Manufacturing Plant. Raleigh: North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office.
1837. The Builder’s Manual. Mechanics’ Magazine, and Journal of the Mechanics’ Institute, p. 198.
Clement, Winston Wallace. 2014. Standardization in the Lumber Industry: Trade Journals, Builder’s Guides and the American Home. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
Connors, Edward. 2012. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form—Heaton & Cowing Mill. Riverside: Edward Connors and Associates.
2014. Cultivation of a Tobacco Empire. North Carolina Historic Sites, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Office of Archives & History.
1854. Fire-Proof Buildings. Circular 3(116): 462.
1857. Fire-Proof Structures. Flag of Our Union 12(26): 205.
1871. Great Fire at Paterson. The New York Times, December 14.
Greenwood, Richard E. 2011. Providence One Hundred Years Ago—The Industrial Heyday. City of Providence City Archives.
Langenbach, Randolph. 2010. Better than Steel? (Part 2): Tall Wooden Factories and the Invention of “Slow-burning” Heavy Timber Construction. Oakland: Conservationtech Consulting.
Lang-Kummer, Karen, and A. Rebecca Harrison. 1982. National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form—Shockoe Valley and Tobacco Row Historic District. Richmond: Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission.
Meyer, David R. 2003. The Roots of American Industrialization, 1790–1860. Economic History Services.
1981. MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report Brockton. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Commission.
1839. Monmouth Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Maine Farmer and Journal of the Useful Arts 7(51): 403.
Paul, C.E. 1916. Heavy Timber Mill Construction Buildings. Chicago: Engineering Bureau, National Lumber Manufacturers Associations.
Pereira, Rui M., and William J. Hausman. 2014. Railroads and Economic Growth in the Antebellum United States. Williamsburg: College of William and Mary.
Pessen, Edward. 1980. How Different from Each Other Were the Antebellum North and South? The American Historical Review 85(5): 1119–1149.
Ristau, Toni. 1975. Mill Architecture in Paterson, NJ: A Culmination of the Empirical Tradition in Construction. Proc. of Symposium on Industrial Archaeology, New Jersey, Paterson, 59–67. Paterson: Northeast Historical Archaeology.
Sokoloff, Kenneth L. 1992. Invention, Innovation, and Manufacturing Productivity Growth in the Antebellum Northeast. In American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the Civil War. Chicago: University of Chicago.
1871. The State of the Manufacturing Trades. Scientific American XXV(13): 200.
Weinberg, Meyer. Rise of the Capitalist Class, 1790–1865. New History.
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Heitz, J. (2016). The Origins of Heavy Timber Construction. In: Fire Resistance in American Heavy Timber Construction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32128-8_2
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