Millview, Florida Explained

Official Name:Millview, Florida
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:USA Florida
Pushpin Label:Millview
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within the state of Florida
Coordinates:30.4181°N -87.3561°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:County
Unit Pref:Imperial
Elevation Ft:7
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:32506
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:286940

Millview is an unincorporated community located along Perdido Bay in Escambia County, Florida, United States.

History

Millview may have been settled as early as 1783. Millview's history has been closely tied to that of the lumber industry, and the community was once home to as many as six different lumber mills and had a population of 3,000 residents.[1] One of the first recorded sawmills was built in 1868 and could produce up to 35,000 feet of lumber per day.[2] Some of the sawmills that operated in Millview included the Wright Mill,[3] Robinson Mill, Seminole Mill,[4] McLane Mill, New Mill and the Perdido Bay Lumber Company Mill.[2] In 1880, the annual production of all mills in Millview was 30-40 million board feet. The Perdido Bay Lumber Company mill was the largest mill in Millview, measuring 175 feet x 55 feet. The mill contained one engine, a gang saw, two circular saws, and six boilers.[5] The Southern States Lumber Company purchased much of the land in Millview after the Civil War and donated land for a church and school.[1]

The Pensacola and Perdido Railroad was a 9-mile railroad that began hauling lumber from Millview to Pensacola Bay in 1874. In 1893, Henry McLaughlin extended the Pensacola, Alabama, and Tennessee Railroad from Millview to Muscogee.[6] In February 1913, McLauglin incorporated the Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans Railway, which absorbed the Pensacola, Alabama, and Tennessee and Pensacola and Perdido Railroads.[7]

J. B. Johnson and George Robinson both owned sawmills and general stores in Millview and printed their own scrip for use in their stores.[8]

A post office operated under the name Millview from 1872 to 1935.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: The Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company Residential Historic District . United States Department of the Interior . 29 May 2020.
  2. Web site: Brackett . John Matthew . "The Naples of America": Pensacola during the Civil War and Reconstruction . Florida State University Libraries . 29 May 2020.
  3. Web site: Campbell . Richard . Historical sketches of colonial Florida . George A Smathers Libraries . University of Florida . 29 May 2020.
  4. Web site: Sheet 0009, Pensacola 1897 including Warrington, Woolsey and Mills at Millview, Florida . Historic Map Works . 29 May 2020.
  5. Web site: Grinnan . Joseph James . Molino Mills: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of a Reconstruction Era Sawmill in Molino, Florida . University of West Florida . 16 May 2021.
  6. Book: Gregg Turner. A Short History of Florida Railroads. 2003. Arcadia Publishing. 978-0-7385-2421-4. 40, 87.
  7. Book: Moody's Manual of Investments: American and Foreign: Transportation. 1918. Moody's Investors Service. 1044.
  8. Web site: Millview . Hometown Currency . 29 May 2020.
  9. Web site: Escambia County . Jim Forte Postal History . 28 May 2020 .