| Historicial Development: | Solomon Beard bought the sawmill near Spring Creek from the receivership of W. L. Perry and S. A. Crawford (previous owner unknown) on February 2, 1904. Beard's initial assets from the sale were horses, mules, three log wagons, one truck, four lumber dollies, a Casey & Hedges 60-horsepower engine, a 40-inch by 18-ft boiler, one Atlas 9-inch by 18-inch steam engine, and one Skinner 12-inch by 20-inch engine.
In November, 1903, W. T. Carter and Brother (Camden) had sold to S. N. Beard of Willis one 3 cylinder 7 by 7 Shay locomotive, six narrow gauge log cars, and 120 tons of 35# rails. Price was $6500, $1500 cash and $5,000 in 33 notes.He had operations at Conroe and Virgie as well. He was listed in both the reference books of the LCA for the years 1905 and 1907. L. H. Wallis bought from Spring Creek Lumber Company, on October 7, 1907, for $16,136 its sawmill and planing mill, 600,000 lumber on yard, and uncut stumpage. Spring Creek (S. Beard, J. W. Simonton, W. F. Griffin) had purchased the property (sawmill, planing mill, commissary and wares, nine mules, and two log wagons located on the Joseph House survey) earlier that year, on April 27, 1907, for $9,000 from J. F. Neidigk. Neidigk had bought this from H. J. Hufman in 1906. Wallis may have moved the mill to Willow in Harris County, where it was known as the Willow Lumber Company plant.
The mill community consisted of the mill shed, the planer shed, and the planer engine house, the office building, a two-story boarding house, a two-story commissary, a two-story ten-room dwelling, three fairly good one-story dwellings, forty-one tenant houses of lesser quality, plus cribs and sheds for horses, cows, and oxen. The company front operated a one-Shay locomotive tram line along with mules, oxen, and logging cars. |