| Alpha-Numeric Key: | SM-17 |
| Corporate Name: | Epperson and McKinley Sawmill |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Green B. Epperson and John B. McKinley |
| Location: | Five miles east of Tyler on the old Mound Trail |
| County: | Smith |
| Years in Operation: | 20 years |
| Start Year: | 1848 |
| End Year: | 1867 |
| Decades: | 1840-1849,1850-1859,1860-1869 |
| Period of Operation: | 1848 to about 1866 or 1867 |
| Town: | East of Tyler |
| Company Town: | 2 |
| Peak Town Size: | Unknown |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Pine and oak lumber
 Sawmill |
Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
 Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | 1860: 20-horsepower steam engine
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | |
| Capacity Comments: | 750,000 board feet during the reporting period of the 1860 Census |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Sawmill |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | None |
| Historicial Development: | Green B. Epperson, according to an account of 1900, had been living in Smith County since 1848. During the years, he had served as a Justice of the Peace of Tyler for four years, on Tyler's first board of aldermen, as the first foreman of the federal grand jury in the county, and as a trustee of the M-E Church, South. Epperson operated a sawmill about five miles east of Tyler on the Mound Trail, now the Tyler and Jamestown road. It was located next to a large spring. His lumber was sold in Tyler for housing construction. The Epperson and Green mill (worth a capital investment of $3,000) as recorded in the 1860 Census kept eight employees busy at a total monthly wage of $170. With raw materials including $900 in pine, $100 in oak, and $200 in other stock, the saw mill produced 750,000 feet of pine lumber worth $9,000 and 50,000 feet of oak lumber worth $1,000.
Epperson, after the Civil War, had financial problems. In September, 1865, he lost a case to P. H. Easle and was found to be indebted to Easle in the sum of $144.80. The local timber was soon cut out and the mill closed. Sheriff John B. McKinley was a partner of Epperson's. McKinley bought a another sawmill, just east of town after the Civil War, located at the Old Confederate Laboratory (see entry).
|
| Research Date: | MCJ 04-16-96 |
| Prepared By: | M. Johnson |