| Alpha-Numeric Key: | MO-199 |
| Corporate Name: | Peach River Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | Peach River |
| Owner Name: | Peach River Lumber Company, a Miller-Vidor subsidiary. Darlington-Miller controlled output in 1904. |
| Location: | Peach Creek, eleven miles east of Conroe, between Waukegan & Fostoria (Timber) |
| County: | Montgomery |
| Years in Operation: | 11 years |
| Start Year: | 1902 |
| End Year: | 1912 |
| Decades: | 1900-1909,1910-1919 |
| Period of Operation: | 1902 to 1912 |
| Town: | Timber, also Peach Creek |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | Seventy-five nonelectrified tenant cottages |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Rough and finished lumber.
 Sawmill |
Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | After fire, two Aimes steam engines fed from a separate boiler house with two 60-inch by 18-ft boilers.
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 75000: 1904 |
| Capacity Comments: | 75,000 feet daily in 1904. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A complete saw mill, planer, and dry kilns; 2-story 40-ft by 120-ft building; after fire (1909) circular saw; Curtis single circular (1909 after the fire) After fire, two Aimes steam engines fed from a separate boiler house with two 60-inch by 18-ft bo |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Peach River and Gulf RR. Direct shipping via Santa Fe but could easily access lines of International & Great Northern, Houston East & West Texas and Southern Pacific. |
| Historicial Development: | The first sawmill of the Miller-Vidor Lumber Company was erected at Timber in 1902, and it operated under the name Peach River Lumber Company, beginning in June of that year. The mill was a 75,000 feet circular rig, and it assumed its parent corporation's name in 1910. The mill burned on February 24, 1909, but was rebuilt and operating again within six months. Woods operations in 1910 were conducted twelve miles from the town of Timber by a crew of twenty-five men on the Peach River & Gulf, the company line. Logs were hauled by friction feed in the mill to a shotgun feed log carriage. By 1910 four-fifths of the company's timber holdings were cut, leaving only about 5,000 acres. The mill probably cut out about 1912. There was no log pond at Timber, at the junction of Peach River & Gulf and the Santa Fe Railroad. Main sawmill building housed two small steam engines which powered the single Curtiss circular saw and related machinery. Machinery in front and behind the building were run by 14-inch by 18-inch and 13-inch by 18-inch engines, respectively. The plant included two Standard dry kilns, each with 2 rooms 20-ft by 104-ft and, together, they turned out 40,000 feet daily. Two Atlas boilers, each 12-ft by 60-inch, fed steam for the kilns. The planing mill was housed in a 80-ft by 160-ft feet building. A 14-inch by 20-inch stroke McGowan steam engine was fed by a T. M. 72-inch by 16-ft Nagle boiler. Planing mill machinery included one Hoyt matcher, one Hoyt sizer, one edger, and one resaw. Lumber went to the dry shed or to a 250-loading dock that could handle eight cars simultaneously. The rough dry shed building was 60-ft by 200-ft. All No. 2 and No. 3 grades of green lumber went straight to the green yard, where it was cross-stacked and left air-dry for four to six months. In 1910, 110 employees either rented one of seventy-five cottages or roomed in town. The mill had seventy-five incandescent lamps; the tenants none. See American Lumberman (Oct 8, 1910) for a map showing the Timber holdings.
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| Research Date: | JKG 9-23-93, MCJ 03-20-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |