THE FLUME
The flume was built in the early 1900's by the Giant Lumber Company. It was built in order for the lumber, which
was planed at sawmills along its route to be sent to the newly founded town of North Wilkesboro. The flume
followed the body of water called the Reddies River. It was constructed of wood in a trough-like manner and
the lumber floated through this contraption by means of a constant flow of water in the trough. The milled planks
were nailed together before placing them in the flume. When the lumber reached its destination in North Wilkesboro,
the nails were drawn from the lumber and returned to the various sawmills along the route to be used for the next
batch. About 100,000 feet of lumber and 50,000 pound of tan bark could be handled in a day.
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