Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: NA-7
Corporate Name: Rudolph Prince
Local Name:
Owner Name: Rudolph Prince
Location: Prince's Mill: intersection of the creek at Highway 21, just west of Douglass
County: Nacogdoches
Years in Operation: 5 years
Start Year: 1922
End Year: 1926
Decades: 1920-1929
Period of Operation: Moved from Eden Cemetery in 1922 to this location and in 1926 to Parkerville
Town: Prince's Mill
Company Town: 1
Peak Town Size: Ten to fifteen tenant houses
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill: Rough and finished pine lumber
Sawmill Pine Sawmill Hardwood Sawmill Cypress Sawmill
Planer Planer Only Shingle Paper
Plywood Cotton Grist Unknown
Other
Power Source: Steam
Horse Mule Oxen Water
Water Overshot Water Turbine Diesel Unknown
Pit Steam Steam Circular Steam Band
Gas Electricity Other
Maximum Capacity: 
Capacity Comments: Unknown
Produced:
Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers
Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading
Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board
Treated Other
Equipment: Sawmill and planing mill
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads: None
Historicial Development: Ms. Kathryn Johnson Hunter, Ms. Hazel Brown Kesinger, and Ms. Inez Brown Boatman lived their early lives at Prince's Mill. Rudolph Prince operated sawmills at four different sites in Nacogdoches County during the 1920s. In 1922 Rudolph Prince moved his sawmill from the area near Eden Cemetery and the old Chronister Lumber Company tram road to the creek on the highway, just west of Douglas. The small mill milled and planed lumber. Loyd Johnson used his pickup and trailer to carry the product to Rube Sessions' sawmill at Wells, Cherokee County, about ten miles distant. Besides Loyd Johnson other workers included John Brown, Eldridge Brown, Jay Boatman, Charley Grimes, and John Grimes. Several families of Afro-American workers, who did the harder work of mule driving, logging, and slab bucking, lived just beyond the mule corrals. Whites worked on the saw, the carriages, and with the edger and trimmer. Tenant houses, the commissary, and other mill sheds and buildings were made from pine timber. Most of the houses were constructed in the shot-gun mode, but several families, including that of Loyd Johnson, were box houses with three or four rooms. The Brown and Boatman families followed when Prince moved his sawmill equipment in 1928 to Palestine, Anderson County.
Research Date: MCJ 02-10-96
Prepared By: M Johnson