Mr. Addison Burt founder of Burt Lumber Company passed away December 30, 2004, at the age of 85.  Known for his hard work, Mr. Burt was also a great family man and highly respected member of the community.  He was active in local, state, and national politics, having served as a member of the Washington, Georgia city council, chairman of the Wilkes County Republican Party, director of the Chamber of Commerce , and once honored as Small Businessman of the Year in Georgia.  Only a few days prior to his death he and his wife Louise celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary.

Addison M. Burt began saw milling in 1954, purchasing a portable sawmill and setting it up in the woods of Wilkes County, Georgia.  In the early 60's, Mr. Burt leased about ten acres of land and put up his first stationary sawmill.  A few years later he was able to buy the land which is the present location of Burt Lumber Company.  Daily production in those days was just a thousand board feet of Yellow Pine and mixed hardwoods.  A short time later, Mr. Burt purchased one of the first Chip`n Saw mills in the state and began sawing only Southern Yellow Pine..  Through the years he added a dry kiln, a planer mill, and, in 1983, a treating plant.  After Mr. Burt retired, he turned over the daily operations to his grandsons, Burt and Barry Goolsby.  A number of years had elapsed since the mill had been upgraded, so Burt and Barry began a series of renovations to the existing site.  Today, the mill is capable of producing 25 million board feet of lumber a year working just one shift.  Most of the sawmill operation is controlled by computers and optimizers enabling the company to gain maximum recovery from the logs.  Burt Lumber Company now employs about 60 people, quite a step from those days back in the woods of Wilkes County.

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