| Alpha-Numeric Key: | AG-3 |
| Corporate Name: | Luke Wright |
| Local Name: | Hoshall |
| Owner Name: | Luke Wright. J. V. Lankford & Sons. Olham, Brown, John Oliver, Switchhammer. |
| Location: | Fairchild Switch, four miles south of Lufkin. Rail stop for Hoshall (Bitterweed) (Collwood).
West of 324 on tracks of Southern Pacific |
| County: | Angelina |
| Years in Operation: | 26 years |
| Start Year: | 1917 |
| End Year: | 1942 |
| Decades: | 1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939,1940-1949 |
| Period of Operation: | The mill closed before the end of World War II. |
| Town: | Hoshall (Collwood) (Bitterweed) |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | Sixty-five workers in the period from 1917 to 1920 |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Rough and finished pine and hardwoods
| Sawmill |
Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
 Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | Unknown
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 10000: 1917 25000: 1920 20000: 1928 |
| Capacity Comments: | Lankford, 10,000 feet daily. Wright, 25,000 feet daily. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Wright: Saw and planing mills, steam dry kiln |
| Company Tram: |  |
| Associated Railroads: | Houston East & West Texas |
| Historicial Development: | J. V. Lankford & Sons of Redland constructed and operated a sawmill at a place they called Collwood. It also carried the names Hoshall and Bitterweed Flat at various times. The rail switch was located at nearby Fairchild Switch on the Houston East & West Texas. The mill town was about three miles north of Diboll and four south of Lufkin on the rail line. Lankford sold the mill before 1917 to parties unknown, the year before Luke Wright bought it. He probably moved his sawmill equipment from the mills that he was closing at Davisville and Cochran Switch that year. Wright employed a work force of about sixty-five blacks and whites. The sawmill town included several rows of houses, a commissary, two boarding houses, segregated churches and schools, and a Masonic lodge. Wright expanded the daily cutting capacity from 10,000 feet to 25,000 feet and added a planing mill. He operated it at least until 1928, for he was listed in a directory with a mile at Lufkin. Several fires occurred before the timber cut out.
Other owners were Olham, Brown, John Oliver (mid-30's), and Switchhammer.
|
| Research Date: | MCJ 01-17-96 |
| Prepared By: | M. Johnson |