Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: LI-8
Corporate Name: Buford, Boyd, and Hart
Local Name:
Owner Name: Buford, Boyd, and Hart
Location: Liberty “up at the river”
County: Liberty
Years in Operation: 5 years
Start Year: 1889
End Year: 1893
Decades: 1880-1889,1890-1899
Period of Operation: 1889 to 1893
Town: Above Liberty on the Trinity River
Company Town: 2
Peak Town Size: Unknown
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill: 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: 
Capacity Comments: Unknown
Produced:
Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers
Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading
Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board
Treated Other
Equipment: Sawmill
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads: Texas and New Orleans
Historicial Development: Several issues of the Liberty Vindicator notes that a sawmill operated unsuccessfully for a few years between 1889 and 1893 on the Trinity River, close by to Liberty. An issue of December 16, 1887, asked if something could be done about “That mill up at the rivercan't something be done to start it up and going?” In January, 1889, the paper carried an announcement that the Buford, Boyd & Hart mill was “prepared to saw bills of lumber for any body and in any quantity.” Although the owners were willing to pay cash for sawlogs, they mill did not prosper. In August, 1893, an editorial propounded, “What is the matter with the mill at the river? Why is it that it is not kept running? These questions are frequently asked by parties who wish to get lumber, but no one, it seems, can give a satisfactory answer.”
Research Date: MCJ 03-14-96
Prepared By: M Johnson