Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: WK-32
Corporate Name: E. A. Noble
Local Name:
Owner Name: E. A Noble. B. L. Taylor. A.T. Hill
Location: New Waverly area, about sixteen miles north of Conroe
County: Walker
Years in Operation: 3 years
Start Year: 1879
End Year: 1881
Decades: 1870-1879,1880-1889
Period of Operation: 1879 to 1881
Town: New Waverly area
Company Town: 2
Peak Town Size: Unknown
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill: Pine and hardwood (oak) lumber
Sawmill Pine Sawmill Hardwood Sawmill Cypress Sawmill
Planer Planer Only Shingle Paper
Plywood Cotton Grist Unknown
Other
Power Source: 25-horsepower steam engine and boiler
Horse Mule Oxen Water
Water Overshot Water Turbine Diesel Unknown
Pit Steam Steam Circular Steam Band
Gas Electricity Other
Maximum Capacity: 
Capacity Comments: 300,000 feet of lumber during the reporting period of the 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: International & Great Northern
Historicial Development: The A. T. Hill sawmill at or near New Waverly was listed in The Lumberman's Directory of Saw Mills, Shingle Mills and Other Wood Working Factories in the Northwest, South and Southwest of 1880. This is the “A. G.” Hill listed in the 1880 Census for Walker County as having a sawmill in Subdistrict 155, which included New Waverly. The Census recorded the d capital value of the facility at $2,000. Hill employed fifteen men at peak production and five normally. They were paid $1.25 to $2.50 daily for ten-hour shifts. Hill paid out a total of $600 in wages for six months of operations. From $1650 worth of sawlogs and supplies, Hill's facility manufactured 300,000 feet of lumber for a value of $3,000. B. L. Taylor mortgaged for the sawmill in 1881 to C. T. Powell, Trustee for A. T. Hill. In 1882, E. A. Noble, mortgaged for the sawmill of B. L. Taylor with the “said Hill to have exclusive control,. .”. A. T. Hill still had a financial interest in his old mill.
Research Date: JKG 11-11-93, MCJ 03-31-96
Prepared By: J. Gerland, M. Johnson