In the late 19th century, innovations in the logging industry, specifically the band saw, led to a rapid deforestation of the woodland along the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Delta. As demand for timber increased, lumber companies turned to the dense, mature forests of Appalachia. Saw mills began to spring up around the Smokies, with major logging operations taking place above Elkmont and the Oconaluftee watershed. Greenbrier residents David Proffitt and Pinkney Whaley erected a saw mill near Porters Flat, and by 1916 had helped log some of the Porters Creek watershed.