Liberated From A Legacy: Mackey's Ferry Sawmill
By Katherine Zehnder, Carolina Journal. Tucked away in Roper, North Carolina, is Mackey's Ferry Sawmill, the largest private employer in Washington County, until recently.
Wilson Jones, the owner and operator of the sawmill, came to the difficult decision to shut down operations due to the repercussions of the tariffs implemented by the Trump administration.
This resulted in the laying off of all 50 of Jones' employees and ended an almost 40-year legacy. Wilson Jones and his brother are sixth-generation lumbermen, carrying on the legacy that their great-great-grandfather, William Sawyer Jones, began.
He received his first order for sawn lumber on July 26, 1884, and continued to operate the sawmill with his brothers and children over the following decades.
Author's summary: Mackey's Ferry Sawmill shut down due to tariffs.