THE COAST 63 had a combined population of 4,063. The “new” city listed two banks, two newspapers, eighty-eight businesses, and twenty professions in its ranks. By 1912, the area around Pascagoula Harbor saw tremendous growth in freight coming into the port. Logs accounted for 320,000 tons, lumber/timber for 412,380 tons, crossties for 11,750 tons, and fish/oysters for 3,250 tons in 30,000 barrels. Additionally, rosin, turpentine, charcoal, and hardwood processed through the port. For that year, a total of 764,823 tons of products resulted in economic good times for Jackson County, even after the Hurricane of 1906 destroyed 20 percent of the pine forests in the region. Lumbering operations in Harrison County, with mills around Coalville, Saucier, and Lyman listing seven sawmills by 1930, also suffered during the 1930s. Even though wooden shipbuilding in the Biloxi area required a tremendous increase in the harvesting of trees to meet demand, the 1930s were the final years for this industry because the longleaf pines became extinct as a result of overharvesting. Until after World War II, which lasted from 1939 to 1945, when forestry management became a part of the agricultural programs in the state, all that was left of the vast stands of trees was cutover land. During the Depression, the United States government established DeSoto National Forest, which extended across ten counties in southern Mississippi, including the lower six counties. The Mississippi Forestry Association, created in 1938, conducted extensive fire protection programs shortly after its creation, and groups such as Camp P-77 of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in George County saw service as they helped clear and maintain the natural region. With good management, a second generation of tree growth resulted in the 1940s, and the cyclical planting/harvesting continues today with sound conservation practices. During the post–World War II housing boom in the 1950s, the lumber industry witnessed a resurgence. When the housing boom sank in the 2000s, the demand for lumber did also—even though, in 2006, the lumber industry brought in $17.4 billion to Mississippi and created 123,659 direct and indirect jobs for its citizens. New technology that can mill tree-length logs and cut and delimb them all in one action is helping to rebound the timber industry, as is the increase in new construction in the housing industry. In George County, wood pellet plants produce 500,000 tons of pellets per year for shipment mainly to European markets, and mechanized tree planters developed by the Illinois Central Railroad Company replant saplings. In 1949, when pulpwood became a money-making product, 122,899 tons of it went through the harbor in Pascagoula. By that time, Pascagoula was also shipping out coal, fuel oil, asphalt, and sulfur, creating a profitable manufacturing region. By the 1960s, Standard Oil Refinery, Mississippi Chemical Company, and Chevron were all operating in the Bayou Cassotte Industrial Park, which the Jackson County Board of Supervisors established in 1954. Jackson County is often called “the most industrialized county in the state.” Between 1889 and 1920, logging companies that harvested the trees, sawmills that processed the timber, and businesses that manufactured naval stores took advantage of the abundant longleaf pine in the region. Towns in the upper portion of Jackson County such as Benndale, Bexley, Eubanks, Lucedale, and Shipman all witnessed the growth of their communities because of the yellow pine. Lucedale had a post office by 1899 with Frankie Banks its postmaster. Benndale’s first postmaster was George D. McCormick in 1900. The town of Bexley followed four years later, with J. G. Leatherbury serving as its first postmaster. The community of Shipman received its first post office in 1906; John T. Pringle served as postmaster. Companies such as R. C. Luce and Sons, Farnsworth Lumber, Star Lumber, and F. B. Merrill & Company all thrived for a transitory time as they took advantage of the available trees. Even as late as 1938, Kirklan Turpentine Company produced barrels of turpentine distilled from pine resin. As a result of the growing enterprises and expanding population of the northern Jackson County region, on March 16, 1910, officials conducted an election to decide whether to create a new county from portions of both Jackson and Greene counties. The results of the election were an overwhelming victory in favor of establishing George County—182 votes supporting the movement and only sixteen voting against the proposal. The namesake of George County was James Zachariah George (1826–1897), a United States senator and state supreme court justice in Mississippi. Mississippians called him the Great Commoner. Acting governor Luther Manship appointed the original slate of George County officers. The sheriff was C. P. Eubanks, while the chancery clerk was L. G. Sellers. A. E. Dean became the circuit clerk and W. S. Cowart the county After the Civil War ended, sawmills in Hancock and Jackson counties once again operated as railroad construction became a reality and commenced along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.