Building The
Tennessee Valley Iron & Railroad Company
Chemical Plant & Iron Furnace
Collinwood, Tennessee
1918
| In late 1917, the
Tennessee Valley Iron & Railroad Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was
awarded a contract by the US Bureau of Aeroplane Manufacture to build and
operate a wood alcohol distillation plant. The alcohol produced by the
plant was to be used in fuel for aeroplanes in the US Army Air Corps
during World War II. Additional products and by-products from the plant
were also used in the construction of aeroplanes (airplanes). The company,
with large tracts of timber located in Wayne County, Tennessee chose to
build the plant at its railhead at Collinwood, Tennessee. Thompson - Starrett Company of New York was awarded the contract for overall design and construction of the plant. The American Products Company (J. D. Dunn, owner) of Boyne City, Michigan was awarded the contract for the construction and operation of the charcoal iron furnace which was built as an integral part of the plant. Construction began in late February, early March of 1918 and continued until late June or July 1918 when the Tennessee Valley Iron and Railroad Company was declared insolvent and the Bureau of Aeroplane Manufacture cancelled the contract for the plant. The photographs presented here are construction photographs showing the day to day activity in the building of the plant. These prints, all 8 x 10 inches in format were all numbered with several being made on the same date. Only 48 of the prints have survived and that in itself is a story. These photographs were originally in the possession of J. D. Dunn of the American Products Company. When he retired to his farm, north of Collinwood, in the McCall/Highland Community in 1932, the photographs, along with the blueprints, records and correspondence pertaining to the operation were stored in his barn. A tornado in 1955 damaged the barn and the photographs and other papers pertaining to the plant were scattered in the woods around the barn. Mr. Ruben Odle, a neighbor, found the photographs and salvaged them. In 1984 I borrowed the photographs and made 8 x 10 copies of each. I am presenting these photographs here because they represent a unique view of construction techniques used in 1918. They also provide an interesting view of the area east of the present City of Collinwood. It should be noted that the 200 feet tall smoke stack, which the reader will see being built in these scenes, stood in the middle of the present Natchez Trace Parkway roadway. It is still there, although in much smaller pieces since it was razed in 1947 and the rubble used as fill under the roadway. Please click on any of the thumbnail shots below to see a larger image. |
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Created by Edgar D. Byler, III |
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| #1 Site preparation. Camera facing west, northwest. March 3, 1918 |
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| #5 Railroad tracks. Camera facing east with the railroad crossing 1st Avenue beyond building on right. Men in the photograph not identified. March 3, 1918 |
#6 Excavation for the wood kilns. Camera facing north. March 10, 1918
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#7 Excavation for the wood kilns. Camera facing east. Note the oil drilling derrick in the background. March 10, 1918 |
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| #8 Site preparation for the plant. Camera facing east. Houses in the photograph were hastily erected for the workers. March 10, 1918 |
#9 Site preparation for the engine house and iron furnace. Camera facing northwest from east of site. March 10, 1918 |
#10 Another shot of the railroad tracks at the 1st Avenue crossing. Camera facing east. March 10, 1918 |
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| #11 Photograph of the newly erected "bunk house" for workers on the plant. March 10, 1918 |
#12 More site preparation. Camera facing west, northwest. Roof of the Highland Inn and the Methodist Church in the background. March 17, 1918 |
#13 Digging the tunnels for the air ducts which moved the gases from the kilns to the still house. Camera facing southeast. March 17, 1918 |
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| #14 Digging the foundations and subsurface for the wood kilns. Camera facing northeast. Young boy in foreground, walking behind the three woman, is thought to Joseph E. Walsh. March 17, 1918 |
#15 Newly constructed switch masters house on railroad east of present day Woodlawn. Camera facing southeast. March 17, 1918 |
#16 One of the hastily constructed warehouses, east of the railroad, for storage of construction materials. Camera facing east, northeast from east of 1st Avenue crossing. March 17, 1918 |
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| #17 Pouring the concrete foundations for the engine room. Camera facing northwest. March 17, 1918 |
#18 Same view as #17, but shot on March 25, 1918. |
#19 Another shot of the excavation of the wood kilns. March 25, 1918. |
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| #20 Same view as #19 six days later, March 31, 1918. |
#21 Same view as #18, but shot on March 31, 1918. Erection begins on the furnace stack. |
#22 Pouring concrete for foundations of the "Still House". Note the steam powered concrete mixer. Men in foreground not identified. April 8, 1918, |
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| #23 Building the 8 feet tall culvert under the side tracks leading to the wood kilns. Camera facing southeast from 2nd Avenue. April 8, 1918. |
#24 Wood kiln construction. Camera facing north, northeast. April 8, 1918. |
#25 Same view as #21. Erection of furnace stack continues; pouring of 200 feet tall smokestack underway. April 8, 1918. |
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| #26 Same view as #25, six days later, April 14, 1918. |
#27 Foundation work on the "Still House". Oil drill derrick at left of photograph. Camera facing east. April 14, 1918. |
#29 Another shot of the foundation work on the wood kilns. Camera facing northwest. Men facing camera in foreground not identified. April 14, 1918. |
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| #30 View of plant site. Smokestack at right of middle and furnace stack at right. Camera facing east from top of old bunk house. April 21, 1918. |
#31 Same view as #26, but seven days later, April 21, 1918. |
#34 Same view as #30 but at a closer range and seven days later. April 28, 1918. |
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| #35 Pouring foundations and air ducts at wood kilns. Camera facing northeast. Superior Lumber and Tie Company mill in background left center. April 28, 1918. |
#36 Site preparation for the railroad beds leading to the wood kilns. Camera facing north and shot from southeast of 1st Avenue and Broadway Street intersection. Cameraman standing on roof of old bunk house. April 28, 1918. |
#37 Culvert and roadway completed for the tracks leading from the main line to the wood kilns. Camera facing southeast and cameraman standing west of where 2nd Avenue crossed the tracks. April 28, 1918. |
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| #39 View same as #35 but shot on May 6, 1918. |
#41 Shot of the furnace and smoke stack. Camera facing south, southeast. Brick laying has commenced on "Still house". May 6, 1918. |
#42 Same scene as #41 but with camera facing east from southwest of site. Air duct from wood kilns in foreground. May 13, 1918. |
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| #43 Same view as #39, but shot on May 13, 1918. |
#44 Same view as #36, but shot on May 13, 1918. |
#45 Same view as #41, but shot on May 13, 1918. |
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| #46 Same view as #42 but shot on May 20, 1918. |
#47 Same view as #43. Erection of steel skeleton of kilns has begun. May 20, 1918. |
#48 Same view as #44. May 20, 1918. |
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| #49 View of the wood kilns on June 3, 1918. Camera facing northeast. |
#50 Building the "fireboxes" of the wood kilns. June 3, 1918. |
#52 View of the work on the engine room, furnace and casting building (at right of photo). Note erection of steel skeleton for the "Still House' at left of photo. June 3, 1918. |
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| #55 View of site from top of furnace stack on June 20, 1918. Camera facing northwest. Front of Methodist Church is barely visible at far left background, just below top of trees.. |
#56 View of the work on the engine room and boilers from the top of the furnace stack. Wood kilns in background. June 26, 1918. |
#58 View showing the steel skeleton of the "Still House". Camera facing north from top of furnace stack. Superior Lumber and Tie Company sawmill in background. Last surviving photograph, shot June 26, 1918. |
