Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: LI-54
Corporate Name: Kirby Lumber Corporation [Company]
Local Name:
Owner Name: Kirby Lumber Corporation. Walker Veneer & Plywood Co. had become the Walker Division at Cleveland sometime before 1973. Walker Plywood Mfg Company with Jules F. Rosenbaum. Walker Lumber Company with N. A. Walker.
Location: Box 425, Austin Street, Cleveland
County: Liberty
Years in Operation: 35 years
Start Year: 1946
End Year: 1980
Decades: 1940-1949,1950-1959,1960-1969,1970-1979,1980-1989
Period of Operation: 1946 to about 1980
Town: Cleveland
Company Town: 0
Peak Town Size: 5,183 in 1950
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill: Cypress plywood
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: About 1,000,000 square feet of veneer annually
Produced:
Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers
Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading
Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board
Treated Other
Equipment: Plywood plant
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads: Unknown
Historicial Development: The site began originally as the Walker Lumber Company of N. A. Walker in 1946. By 1956, it employed more than fifty workers milling hardwood and pine lumber. The Walker Lumber Company was listed in the 1957 Directory of Wood-Using and Related Industries in East Texas as the Walker Veneer & Plywood Co. Jules Rosenbaum bought, according to The Texas Forest News in 1958, the Walker Plywood Manufacturing Co. of Cleveland in 1958. By 1960, Jim McGraw was the superintendent. Kirby Lumber Corporation, with its main plywood plant at Silsbee, acquired this plant sometime before it announced, in April, 1974, that Kjell N. Stordalen would become the Operations Manager-Plywood Group for Kirby. He would be based at Silsbee but also be responsible for the Walker Division at Cleveland. The company eventually merged this plants operations with the the facility of the Williams Forest Products, Inc., that Louisiana-Pacific bought in Cleveland.
Research Date: MCJ 03-14-96
Prepared By: M. Johnson