In 1893, J. E. Henry's lumber operation and the town of Lincoln sprang up almost overnight as Henry's crew built a store, blacksmith shop, railroad, and portable sawmill within six months. The sawmill at Lincoln, locally known as Henryville, received timber by rail from the largest single tract of land to be logged in the White Mountains, and at the height of operations the Henry's East Branch & Railroad had six locomotives and 50 miles of track through the forest. Henry's business approach was to buy land cheaply, harvest the lumber, and sell in volume, using what was believed to be a limitless timber supply, even as the press later reviled him as a Wood Butcher. Lincoln was completely owned and operated by the Henrys, and later by the Parker-Young Company. By 1902, about 50 utilitarian houses without running water had been built and rented to mill workers for $10 per month, while workers bought their goods at J.E. Henry's company store and purchased their insurance and even their ice from the Henrys. J. E. Henry served as local judge and his son John was the town's postmaster, and after taking over in 1917 the Parker-Young Company continued to operate the town hospital and store.