| Alpha-Numeric Key: | PK-14 |
| Corporate Name: | West Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Operated under West-Davidson control in 1909; West Lumber Company; Benford Lumber Company (Davidson, West, Josserand, Fant); Petersville Lumber Company (J. M. West and Peter Josserand); John Napoleon Fant (1891). Continental Tie & Lumber Company. |
| Location: | North of Corrigan: Fant, Petersville, Potomac, or Wakefield |
| County: | Polk |
| Years in Operation: | 19 years |
| Start Year: | 1891 |
| End Year: | 1909 |
| Decades: | 1890-1899,1900-1909 |
| Period of Operation: | Fant: 1891; West lumber interest, 1903-1909. |
| Town: | Fant,Potomac,Petersville, Wakefield, Easom |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 62 in 1905 |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Lumber
 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: | 28000: 1893 50000: 1900 35000: 1906 |
| Capacity Comments: | 28,000 feet daily (Fant), 1893; 50,000, 1900; 35,000 feet, 1906 |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Sawmill and possibly planing mills |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Houston, East and West Texas; Missouri, Kansas, & Texas. |
| Historicial Development: | North of Corrigan, on the Houston, East & West Texas Railroad, was an early sawmill point known as Fant, Petersville, Potomac, and Wakefield. John Napoleon Fant, according to tradition, built the first sawmill there about 1881, but a Fant sawmill did not appear in Rand, McNally and Company's 1884 lumber mill directory. The first historical record of Fant's mill is found in an 1891 Galveston newspaper. The Fant mill also appeared in the Galveston Weekly News on April 13, 1893, as cutting 28,000 board feet of lumber per day, and had increased it to 50,000 in 1900.
About 1902 Fant sold his mill to Peter Josserand, Josserand's cousin, George Johnson, and J.M. West. The name of the town was then changed to Petersville, and this is how the sawmill appeared in the Lumbermen's Credit Association's records of 1905 and 1907, except, in 1905, the mill was known as Petersville Lumber Company, and, in 1907, the mill was known as West Lumber Company.
By 1908 the mill had again changed its name to the Benford Lumber Company, and the town name had changed to Potomac. The Continental Tie & Lumber Company, a company subsidiary, was also located at Potomac that year. In the fall of 1909, the Benford mill (a J.M. West and Lynch Davidson interest) at Potomac burned, and the company's operations were moved to Laurelia, at the former Hilgard Lumber Company mill. |
| Research Date: | JKG 11-17-93, MCJ 04-10-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |