| Alpha-Numeric Key: | PK-111 |
| Corporate Name: | Saner-Ragley Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | John C. Saner and W. G. Ragley |
| Location: | Carmona: .08 miles off Highway 287, on Farm Road 1872 |
| County: | Polk |
| Years in Operation: | 45 years |
| Start Year: | 1914 |
| End Year: | 1958 |
| Decades: | 1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939,1940-1949,1950-1959 |
| Period of Operation: | 1914 to about 1958. Probably closed from 1932 to 1942. |
| Town: | Carmona |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 24 in 1907; 1,000 in 1920; 300 in 1928 |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Rough and finished longleaf yellow pine.
| 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: | 100000: 1928 |
| Capacity Comments: | Capable of 100,000 feet daily in 1928 |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | 1928: band sawmill, with planing mill, dry kilns, electric light plant |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Trinity and Sabine (Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine). Four-mile logging road. |
| Historicial Development: | W.G. Ragley and J.C. Saner incorporated the Saner-Ragley Lumber Company on October 14, 1913. J.C. Saner was president; J. M. Bemis, vice-president; Frank Ragley, secretary; and W.G. Ragley, treasurer and general manager. All these men were veteran sawmill owners and operators since the turn of the century. The company owned a 10,000 acre tract of virgin pine forest and began constructing its mill in 1914 in northwestern Polk County, one mile south from the Cameron mill operation; it did not, however, appear in the U.S. Department of Commerce's 1915 directory of American sawmills. The sawmill plant was complete, including a planing mill, dry kilns, large log pond, electric light plant, commissary, and logging railroad.
The sawmill was a double band rated at 100,000 board feet per day, but by 1930 diminished timber stands necessitated a reduction of capacity to around 40,000 board feet per day. The company ran a turpentine camp for a time, but depletion of virgin timber stands discontinued these operations. In May 1931, timber reserves were estimated as sufficient only for eight months of continuous operation. The mill possibly closed in late 1931 or early 1932. It did not appear in records of the Lumbermen's Credit Association for the year 1934. The Gulf Coast Lumberman did report in 1946 that a fire had destroyed the old sawmill plant, which had been inactive for two years, and the planing mill, the latter which had been operating. The company intended to rebuild the planing mill. Another fire destroyed almost four hundred thousand feet of lumber. The loss was mostly insured. The mill was listed with Samson in 1957, indicating that the mill had reopened during World War II. It was still operating as late as 1958. Saner died on July 9, 1948. R. M. Eagle, his successor as president of Saner-Ragley at Carmona, served in 1950 on the Advisory Committee to the Texas Forest Service.
|
| Research Date: | JKG 9-12-93, MCJ 02-27-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |