| Historicial Development: | Research by Jonathan Gerland into the George Gordon diaries and the Liberty Star State reveals that George Gordon and his sons operated a sawmill and steam boat business on the Trinity River during the 1870s. Their sawmill was one of many that supplied the needs of the Texas & New Orleans Railway Company in rebuilding its road through Liberty County after the Civil War. The newspaper article reported that the sawmill was located “five miles from town and ten miles by water, on the west bank of the Trinity River.” He bought the mill and erected it near the river on the W. D. Smith survey in 1873. Both of Liberty's prewar steam sawmills were inactive and Gordon hoped for a monopoly. The plant included a 54-inch circular saw, a large carriage and engine, and a boiler set in a brick foundation. Shade trees were planted around the mill. A house was built for his employees and a large wharf for storing the lumber waiting to be shipped to Liberty and other points. Much hardship occurred, however: two years for the mill to be operational, broken machinery, lack of experienced workers, and a scarcity of capital. He had to settle several accounts for lumber by accepting livestock in return. Flat boats sank in the river. The river washed away his wharf and lumber on several occasions. Although he placed a bid to provide the T&NO with 100,000 crossties, Gordon could not compete with the mills at Orange and Beaumont, which profited directly from rail transportation. When the T&NO built through Liberty in 1876, it bypassed the Gordon mill. He rarely ran his sawmill after 1876, concentrating on agricultural projects instead. He used the steam engine to grind corn. His sons continued to cut and haul wood for the steamboats, cut and bolt boards by hand for staves and shingles, and place large cypress logs in the river for export from the coast. The railroad's lack of interest in Gordon's mill put it out of business.
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