| Alpha-Numeric Key: | WL-7 |
| Corporate Name: | J. M. Cordell |
| Local Name: | Fetzer sawmill |
| Owner Name: | Gibson & Harvey. J. M. Cordell. |
| Location: | Fetzer Switch, north of FR 1774 in northeastern Waller County, a mile west of Mill Creek |
| County: | Waller |
| Years in Operation: | 3 years |
| Start Year: | 1913 |
| End Year: | 1915 |
| Decades: | 1910-1919 |
| Period of Operation: | Prior to 1913 to after 1915 |
| Town: | Fetzer Switch |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | Unknown |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Rough cut lumber
 Sawmill |
 Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | Unknown
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | |
| Capacity Comments: | Small |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Circular sawmill, planing mill, edgers, trimmers, dry kilns |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Unknown |
| Historicial Development: | Ms. Mildred W. Absheir, for the Waller County Historical Commission, submitted a Data Form on the Boze sawmill to the East Texas Sawmill Data Base Project on August 8, 1993. The sawmill had a limited commissary, which made the community partially, at least, a mill town. The company store supplied people “with staple provisions.”Fetzer, Texas, was named for Miss Laura Fetzer, who encouraged lumbering and who disappeared mysteriously one day after boarding a Ft Worth-bound train. Miss Mildred Abshier has written that Fetzer's “social and economic life . . . revolved mainly about sawmilling and agricultural pursuits.” Allam and Henrietta Andrews helped to finance the establishment of the Fetzer sawmill, which was first operated by Gibson and Harvey. The next sawmiller of record was J. M. Cordell who operated a sawmill and ran a mill town with a commissary at Fetzer. A sawmill directory of 1915 that Cordell's plant had a circular sawmill, planing mill, edgers, trimmers, dry kilns, commissary, and a logging road. |
| Research Date: | MCJ 04-01-96 |
| Prepared By: | M. Johnson |