Lavender, Loraine

This collection consists of the accounting books, its ledgers, roll records, invoices, and journals for the various lumber companies operated by George and Loraine Lavender and Ralph Rounds in New Mexico and Colorado. Their logging operations change location and names several times throughout the years of this collection, 1946 to 1966.

After the Lavender Lumber and Timber Company closed in Datil, New Mexico in 1946, George Lavender and Ralph M. Rounds started another lumber company in Ocate, New Mexico. The same year, George Lavender and Loraine Morley married, and Mrs. Lavender became the bookkeeper for company. The new operation at Ocate was called the Lavender Tie and Lumber Company. At the same time as the Ocate business was running, another operation at Gallup was purchased in September 1948. The new mill was called the Lavender Lumber Inc. and lasted until March, 1949. By 1949/1950 the timber, mostly Ponderosa Pine, was logged and the Lavender Tie and Lumber Company was closed. Again the Lavenders and Rounds started another operation in Santa Fe calling it the Pot Creek Logging and Lumber, Inc. The offices, shipping yard for the railroad, the planer, and drying yard were at the city location, while the corporation had their sawmills in Taos on the Oro del Rio Grande Grant. Several independent mills would sell their lumber to Pot Creek Logging and Lumber, Inc. The folders in the collection entitled Mill Ledger refer to these independent companies. One of the operations in Taos was called the Black Lake Timber Co. and lasted from June, 1951 to February, 1953. There are some records of this company in the collection.

By April of 1956, another business was set up at Fort Garland, Colorado. After the marketable timber was logged, the corporation was phased out in March of 1959. Records of the Colorado company are in this collection.

Pot Creek Logging and Lumber, Inc. was the last company operation. Mr. Rounds had passed away in 1960, and the Lavenders wanted to retire. The company was finally closed the first month of 1966, and most of the land was sold.