Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: RU-23
Corporate Name: C. A. Still
Local Name:
Owner Name: C. A. Still
Location: Overton
County: Rusk
Years in Operation: 27 years
Start Year: 1874
End Year: 1900
Decades: 1870-1879,1880-1889,1890-1899,1900-1909
Period of Operation: 1874 to 1900s
Town: Overton
Company Town: 2
Peak Town Size: Unknown
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: 1880: 15-horsepower steam engine and boiler.
Horse Mule Oxen Water
Water Overshot Water Turbine Diesel Unknown
Pit Steam Steam Circular Steam Band
Gas Electricity Other
Maximum Capacity: 10000: 1906
Capacity Comments: 1880: 300,000 feet of lumber. 1906: 10,000 feet daily
Produced:
Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers
Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading
Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board
Treated Other
Equipment: Sawmill
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads: International and Great Northern at Overton
Historicial Development: C. A. Still manufactured lumber at Overton from 1880 until after the turn of the century. In 1880, he and T. H. Still were listed in the Census as milling lumber in Rusk County. An 1884 railroad directory places the joint venture in Overton. The 1880 steam powered, circular sawmill manufactured 300,000 feet of lumber worth $4,000 from $2,200 worth of supplies and sawlogs. The mill employed ten workers at peak and five men normally. The men were paid $1.50 to $2.50 daily, working ten-hour shifts in the summer and eight-hour shifts in the winter. The Stills paid out a total of $600 in wages. The Southern Industrial and Lumber Review reported that the C. A. Still sawmill at Overton was cutting 10,000 feet daily in 1906. Still may have operated one of the two mills at Overton in 1874. One was the Doyle & Hall mill. A broadside, probably in the Henderson Times, April, 1874, noted that inside “the town limits there is a saw mill, another within a mile of town, and still another within four miles of town. All of these are on an extensive scale and all in operation. Pine lumber here is worth $1.25 per hundred feet.” No names were mentioned.
Research Date: MCJ 02-12-96
Prepared By: M. Johnson