| Alpha-Numeric Key: | OR-17 |
| Corporate Name: | Josiah Jordan (or Gordan) |
| Local Name: | Excelsior Shingle Mill |
| Owner Name: | Josiah Jordan (or Gordan) |
| Location: | Adjacent to D. R. Wingate Mill on the Sabine River |
| County: | Orange |
| Years in Operation: | 14 years |
| Start Year: | 1876 |
| End Year: | 1889 |
| Decades: | 1870-1879,1880-1889 |
| Period of Operation: | 1876 to 1889 |
| Town: | Orange |
| Company Town: | 2 |
| Peak Town Size: | Unknown |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Shingles
 Sawmill |
 Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | 50-horsepower steam engine with two boilers
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | |
| Capacity Comments: | 90,000 shingles daily |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A shingle mill with two or three single-block machines, one 5-gang saw, and one circular saw |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Texas & New Orleans |
| Historicial Development: | Josiah Jordan (possibly spelled “Gordan” at times) built a shingle mill on the Sabine River, in a location that would be adjacent to the later D. R. Wingate mill. His shingles were marketed under the brandname Excelsior. The Census of 1880 revealed that the plant was capitalized at $15,000. An average of thirty workers worked ten hours daily in winter and summer, skilled workers drawing $3.00 daily and unskilled $1.50 daily. Jordan paid a total annual wage of $8,000 during the eleven months that the mill operated during the reporting period. From sawlogs worth $12,000 and supplies valued at $200, ten million shingles were produced valued at $25,000. This company did not do its own logging.
The mill closed in the summer of 1889 because of the local scarcity of cypress logs and the depressed price of shingles. The mill is not listed in the New Orleans Times-Democrat March 22, 1889, issue about Orange sawmills |
| Research Date: | MCJ 03-24-96 |
| Prepared By: | M. Johnson |