Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: CH-5
Corporate Name: C. R. Cummings Lumber Company (Cummings Brothers Lumber Company)
Local Name:
Owner Name: Charles R. and Jesse N. Cummings
Location: On the shore of the bay near Anahuac
County: Chambers
Years in Operation: 9 years
Start Year: 1890
End Year: 1898
Decades: 1890-1899
Period of Operation: 1890s
Town: Anahuac
Company Town: 1
Peak Town Size: Unknown
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill: Hardwood lumber for the German export trade
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: 50000: 1895
Capacity Comments: 50,000 feet daily
Produced:
Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers
Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading
Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board
Treated Other
Equipment: A single circular sawmill
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads: Exported production via the Trinity River and Galveston Bay
Historicial Development: The Cummings sawmills at Anahuac and Liberty cut hardwoods (oak, ash, gum, cottonwood, hickory) for the export trade to Germany. The Cummings owned a shipyard at Wallisville that built tugs and ships, which exported their products. Jesse Cummings sold his interests to German businessmen. The company bought the Horatio, the old steamboat used by C N. Fisher, and quickly made it the flagship of its own fleet. Before the consolidation of the Liberty and Anahuac mills at Wallisville, Cummings supplied both towns with a “floating” commissary on a barge that plied back and forth along the Trinity. At Anahuac, Cummings built a wharf into the Trinity for shipping. Eventually both mills were consolidated at Wallisville. The reason for the Anahuac's mill's removal was that the amount of log storage in the area was insufficient. The great storm of 1897, that destroyed mills at Liberty and Devers, helped the rationale for the move.
Research Date: MCJ 04-02-96
Prepared By: M. Johnson