Tatum Lumber CompanyTatum Lumber Company, operated from 1893 to 1938, and the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern Railroad, owned by the Tatum family from 1925 to 1953, were the creation of W.S.F. Tatum, an influential Mississippi entrepreneur who also served as mayor of Hattiesburg. Tatum Lumber was a major employer in the area and its own railroad connections extended through 50,000 acres of timber in Forrest and Lamar Counties and 13,000 acres in Green County. Tatum Lumber acquired B&HS Railroad to transport timber from the company's forested lands in the Beaumont area to its sawmill south of Hattiesburg. The B&HS Railroad began operations in 1925 with new engines, one of which can be seen today behind the former B&HS depot, the current Main Street home of the Willmut Gas Company, another enterprise of W.S.F. Tatum. In 1953, the B&HS was sold to the Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf Railroad but continued to operate under the B&HS name. W.S.F. Tatum died in 1948, leaving his many business interests to three sons -- West, and twins Will and Frank. The Tatum family has continued to play a prominent role in the history of Hattiesburg. |
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 Steam Whistles in the Piney
Woods ~ Gilbert H. Hoffman ~ 1998A History of the Sawmills and Logging Railroads of Forrest and Lamar Counties, Mississippi, Volume I. The Newman and Tatum Lumber Companies and the Mills at Lumberton. |
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One of the outfits described in great detail is the Tatum Lumber Co., which ran a 60-ton Shay, #5. Old man Tatum, W. S. F. (Willie Sion Franklin) Tatum, was well known to the local kids. |
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