Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key:	JA-49
Corporate Name:	G. C. Williams
Local Name:
Owner Name:	G. C. Williams. Gebhart-Williams-Fenet Company. George W. Cavin Lumber Company with William Keeley, George W. Cavin, R. B. Morris.
Location:	Cavin, just outside of Kirbyville, Blakewood
County:	Jasper
Years in Operation:	4 years
Start Year:	1906
End Year:	1909
Decades:	1900-1909
Period of Operation:	1906 to 1909
Town:	Cavin, Kirbyville, Blakewood
Company Town:	1
Peak Town Size:	1,400 in 1905; 2,200 in 1906; 3000 in 1928
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill:	Rough and dressed lumber 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:	15000: 190650000: 1909
Capacity Comments:	15,000 feet daily to 50,000 feet daily
Produced:	Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board Treated Other
Equipment:	Sawmill and planer
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads:	Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe
Historicial Development:	American Lumberman noted that the William Keeley, formerly of Tyler Car & Lumber Company, was operating a small sawmill on the Jasper & Eastern in 1906. The incorporators were George W. Cavin and R. B. Morris, who had organized the George W. Cavin Lumber Company with $15,000. Southern Industrial and Lumber Review reported that this mill was manufacturing 15,000 feet of lumber in 1906. Cavin was still advertising his Cavin Mill on the Santa Fe line in January 1909 in the review. The Southern Industrial and Lumber Review in March 1909 reported that George W. Cavin sold his sawmills in Nacogdoches and Angelina counties for $50,000 and paid $10,000 for the Kirbyville mill. [Cavin owned mills at Nivac Switch and Dalmont in Nacogdoches County and a sawmill at Warsaw in Angelina County. The information above is partially inaccurate. He sold out his interest in the Cushing mill by 1907, though he still may have had the small mill at Dalmont. He had owned a mill at Kirbyville since 1906; in other words, he did not buy it in 1909.] The Southern Industrial and Lumber Review of July 20, 1909 noted that G. C. Williams had recently purchased the Cavin plant of George Cavin, located at the junction of the Santa Fe and Orange & Northwestern roads. A new mill was being built about two miles east of Cavin on the Santa Fe. Cutting capacity will be 50,000 feet daily. A planer, dry kilns, sheds, and a tram road are also being constructed. The market of the original mill, plus that of the new mill when it comes on line, is and will continued to be handled by the Gebhart-Williams-Fenet Company of Houston.
Research Date:	MCJ 01-08-96
Prepared By:	M Johnson