Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Lumber, Logging, Water conveyance |
| Founded | 1891 in California, United States |
| Founder | C.B. Shaver, Lewis Swift, local businessmen |
| Defunct | c.1912 |
| Fate | Sold following storm damage and ceased operations |
| Successor | Fresno Flume and Lumber Company (1908–c.1912) |
| Headquarters | Clovis, California , United States |
Area served | California |
Key people | John Eastwood (engineer), Ira Bennett (owner after 1912) |
| Products | Lumber |
Number of employees | 400 (early 1900s) |
The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company was established in 1891 in California, initially operating as a business focused on logging and water conveyance. It constructed a 45-mile cedar flume designed to move lumber from Shaver Lake to its finishing facility located in Clovis. In 1908, the company adopted the new name Fresno Flume and Lumber Company and sustained an average annual lumber output of 25 million board feet over its 21 years of activity. A severe storm in 1912 damaged two miles of the flume, prompting the sale and eventual shutdown of the company. By 1919, the majority of the Shaver land was purchased by Southern California Edison Company for use in the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.
History
The enterprise was initiated by local businessmen alongside Michigan lumber experts C.B. Shaver and Lewis Swift. They constructed a dam on Stevenson Creek to form Shaver Lake, which functioned both as a reservoir for logs and a water source for the flume system. Operations were supported by a steam-powered sawmill situated near the lake, working in conjunction with the 45-mile-long V-shaped cedar flume that transported timber to Clovis.
Fresno’s first city engineer, John Eastwood, designed this flume using cedar planks each measuring 16 feet in length, 16 inches in width, and 1.5 inches in thickness. The structure was composed of segments called boxes—320 boxes per mile—descending a total of 4,900 feet from Shaver Lake’s elevation at 5,275 feet down to Clovis. The entire project required an investment of $270,000. Logging operations commenced in 1894, utilizing oxen-drawn wagons and steam locomotives; at peak periods, daily rough lumber shipments reached around 200,000 board feet.
Although initially planned to transport both water and lumber, legal challenges concerning water rights from the San Joaquin River restricted the company to lumber transportation alone. To facilitate timber hauling, they constructed a standard gauge logging railroad known as the Shaver Lake Railroad in 1901.
During its operational years, the company employed up to 400 laborers in Clovis and consistently produced an average of 25 million board feet of lumber annually.
Legacy
In 1908, reflecting its primary focus on lumber production, the company changed its name to Fresno Flume and Lumber Company. Following a destructive storm in 1912 that damaged part of the flume, ownership transferred to Ira Bennett; however, financial troubles soon followed, leading to the end of logging activities. The achievements of this firm along with those of the neighboring Madera Sugar Pine Company demonstrated the effectiveness of V-shaped flumes for transporting lumber.
By 1919, Southern California Edison Company had acquired most of the Shaver property for their Big Creek hydroelectric initiative and later expanded Shaver Lake with a new dam constructed in 1927.