Early in the 1900s, there was a change occurring in the town of Hunter. Actually, a revolutionary change, way up on the Southwest (back side) of Hunter Mountain. No one alive today seems to know exactly why, but two enterprising brothers from Steuben County, New York found their way to the Catskills and began purchasing land and timber rights up on that lofty mountain. Deeds show that the Slawson brothers, Alfred and John, in 1903 bought approximately 2,000 acres from Hiram and Anna Whitney, land in the town of Lexington, at about three dollars an acre.
There were other acquisitions, including rights-of-way, timber rights and a mill site on the "old Harrison Benjamin lot" in the town of Hunter near Edgewood. It might have been a wonderful money opportunity to log that side of the mountain for the brothers, but unfortunately, their idea for bringing the logs down the steep grade (approximately 28%), via a log chute, did not work out well. The logs gained such momentum that upon reaching the bottom of the chute, everything was torn apart.
In 1906, the Slawsons sold their operation to the Tennant-Richards Lumber Company, who in turn sold it to the Fenwick Lumber Company. It was said
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