| Alpha-Numeric Key: | WK-42 |
| Corporate Name: | Gebhart, Williams, Fenet Co. |
| Local Name: | Mill |
| Owner Name: | Gebhart, Williams, Fenet Co. Louisiana & Missouri Lumber Co, Long Leaf Lumber Co, Carolina Lumber Co, Texas Log & Lumber Co, with W. A. Bell and L. B. Menefee. W. A. Bell & James H. White. W. A. Bell. Jasper Dominey |
| Location: | Carolina Switch or Spur, halfway between Dodge and Riverside |
| County: | Walker |
| Years in Operation: | 20 years |
| Start Year: | 1901 |
| End Year: | 1920 |
| Decades: | 1900-1909,1910-1919,1920-1929 |
| Period of Operation: | About 1901 to 1920 |
| Town: | Carolina Switch or Spur |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | From ten to forty tenant houses |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Lumber and cornmeal
 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: | 35000: 1905 |
| Capacity Comments: | 35,000 feet of lumber daily |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Sawmill and grist mill |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | International & Great Northern |
| Historicial Development: | Jasper Dominey, about 1901, moved his sawmill operations from Carolina Sawmill along East Carolina Creek to Carolina Spur or Switch, located mid-distance between Dodge and Riverside. The sawmill, about two miles west, could cut 35,000 feet of lumber daily. W. A. Bell took over the operation shortly thereafter. W. A. Bell and James H. White partnered in 1905 as the Texas Log and Lumber Company. Bell, in 1906, disagreed with White, bought the Carolina Lumber Company from their former Texas Log and Lumber Company and bought the sawmill and grist mill at the Switch. Bell later sold the Carolina Lumber plant at the Switch to L. B. Menefee's Louisiana and Texas Lumber Company, which in September, 1906, sold for $74,450 to the Long Leaf Lumber Company through E. C. Arledge, Trustee. By 1907, Long Leaf Lumber bankrupted and Bell and Menefee picked it up for $25,750. Another sale, this time to the Louisiana and Missouri Lumber Company of A. J. Chastain, C. L. Simpson, O. E. Renfro, and A. W. Byrne ended in bankruptcy in 1909, and the old sawmill plant went back to Bell and Menefee.
Gebhart, Williams, Fenet Company bought the Bell/Menefee operation in the fall of 1909, including also the Carolina Sawmill facility six miles to the east of Carolina Switch. A San Jacinto County record noted that in 1905 the mill included a company tram road, commissary and nine tenant houses. Kelly Brothers ran an independent log and tram operation for Gebhart, Williams, Fenet from 1909 until 1911, when the equipment and the tram road was sold to the sawmill company. The 1910 Census reflects forty-two tenant residences at this mill. |
| Research Date: | MCJ 03-31-96 |
| Prepared By: | M Johnson |