BIG BUSINESS

Inscription

BIG BUSINESS
FROM 1890-1916, SANTEE RIVER
CYPRESS LUMBER CO. CUT AND
PROCESSED HARDWOODS AT MILL
IN NEARBY FERGUSON. EMPLOYED
MANY EUTAWVILLE RESIDENTS.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2026

The Santee River Cypress Lumber Company established their mill in Ferguson, South Carolina in 1890, sixty miles north of the capital of Charleston. They were drawn to the area due to the rich abundance of cypress and tupelo trees along the river. At the company’s peak, they owned an estimated 165,000 acres of land. Francis Beidler, the company co-CEO and a Chicago-based businessman, set aside 2,000 acres for conservation, establishing what is today known as Audubon’s Beidler Forest Sanctuary. The rest, however, was set for cutting, processing, and exporting hardwood. The other co-CEO, Benjamin F. Ferguson, is the namesake of the company town they established.

The mill was connected to the Atlantic Coast R.R. by 1896, allowing them to ship the timber and lumber they cut and milled out to other manufacturing plants. They also drew many other lumber related businesses to the area, including railroads, cooperage and stave plants, and furniture factories. The mills presence in Ferguson generated growth, as it drew workers to the area, and the company built a hotel to lodge them and a hospital to care for them. The nearby town of Eutawville, six miles away, also benefited, gaining a major rail line through town, and serving as a vacation destination for executives and employees.

The mill ran until it shut down in 1916. Two years later, its assets were absorbed by another company, the Santee Manufacturing Company, which was owned by M. B. Cross, the former manager of the Lumber company. The town, which had only been sustained by the company, became a ghost town. In 1941, the dam at Wilson’s Landing was built to generate hydroelectric power and it flooded the area, displacing hundreds of residents in the area. As of 2025, Ferguson is located underneath Lake Marion.

The student-led application for this grant came from students at the University of South Carolina, led by Dr. Jessica Elfenbein. The students researched Big Business and the Santee River Cypress Lumber Company, then gathered and submitted the required materials for the historical marker as part of our Pomeroy Education Program.

This historic marker is also part of the Wood Basket of the World project at the University of South Carolina. The project has produced exhibits, oral histories, an anthology, and a mapping project, among many other educational efforts related to the history of the lumber industry in South Carolina. To learn more about the history of the lumber industry and its impact on South Carolina, visit the Wood Basket of the World site here:

https://digital.library.sc.edu/woodbasket/