| Alpha-Numeric Key: | CK-5 |
| Corporate Name: | Lancaster Corp |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Felder Brothers Lumber Company. Grady and Ray Felder. Lancaster Corporation of Fort Worth. |
| Location: | Alto: .85 mile west on highway 21 from intersection of 21 and 84 |
| County: | Cherokee |
| Years in Operation: | 19 years |
| Start Year: | 1947 |
| End Year: | 1965 |
| Decades: | 1940-1949,1950-1959,1960-1969 |
| Period of Operation: | Felders, 1947 to 1955; Lancaster, 1955 to mid-1960s. |
| Town: | Alto |
| Company Town: | 2 |
| Peak Town Size: | Unknown |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Pine and hardwood
 Sawmill |
Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
 Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | Diesel, gasoline, and electric
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 50000: 1950 |
| Capacity Comments: | 50,000 feet daily (three mills) |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Possibly a circular sawmill |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Unknown |
| Historicial Development: | Oral histories reveal that the first Felder brothers mill had been “put together” with parts “out of a junkyard,” crafted by Bob Landrum and powered by a UD-21 gasoline engine. H. C. Polk, Jr., and Grady Singletary recalled that the Felder brothers second mill was a “loan-out” mill from Rube Sessions. Sessions offered the brothers the use of the mill if they would bring their rough lumber to him. They were looking for somebody to buy the lumber and also for a better mill.” They ran the “loan-out” mill on Boxes Creek near the Lynches Chapel village.
The Felder Brothers operated several more mills during a twenty-year business career. They had a little “peckerwood” mill on Sulphur Branch (Bog Branch), a diesel sawmill on Wire Creek near the Neches River, and then a big diesel sawmill three miles north of Weeping Mary, and a diesel/electric sawmill on Highway 21 two miles west of Alto. The three mills were capable of producing 50,000 feet per day. The Felders shipped their hardwood cut to Lingold Flooring in Crockett for a number of years. The Felders sold a planing mill to Grogan Brothers for $6,000 in 1951.
Lancaster Corp. which bought a number of smaller sawmills in the 1950s, had the Felder mill by 1955 and operated it for about ten years before closing the operation down. |
| Research Date: | MCJ 12-08-95 |
| Prepared By: | M. Johnson |