| Alpha-Numeric Key: | SB-18 |
| Corporate Name: | Alexander Gilmer Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | Remlig |
| Owner Name: | Alexander Gilmer, Harry S. Filson, Dr. J. Butler |
| Location: | Remlig, two and a half miles southeast from the Santa Fe mainline at Brookeland |
| County: | Jasper |
| Years in Operation: | 20 years |
| Start Year: | 1906 |
| End Year: | 1925 |
| Decades: | 1900-1909,1910-1919,1920-1929 |
| Period of Operation: | Officially began operations on January 1, 1906; company town dismantled in 1925. |
| Town: | Remlig , near Brookeland |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | For Brookeland: 144 in 1905; 800 in 1906 |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Complete line of finished wood products
| 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: | 150000: 1906 130000: 1915 |
| Capacity Comments: | 150,000 feet daily (1906). 130,000 in 1915. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A Filer and Stowell band and circular saw mill, planing mill, dry kilns, four 72-inch by 18-foot boilers (saw mill), two 72-inch by 18-foot boilers (planing mill). |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Gulf, Coast & Santa Fe at Brookeland |
| Historicial Development: | Remlig was a sawmill town located about two and a half miles southeast of Brookeland, in Jasper County. The Alexander Gilmer Lumber Company built a large mill there in 1905 to cut the company's holdings of 48,000 acres of virgin long leaf yellow pine. The mill was reported by the American Lumberman in February 1905 to be slated for a June start-up date, but the Southern Industrial and Lumber Review reported in May 1906 that the mill was not “finished and in operation” until January 1, 1906. Initially projected to cut 75,000 feet daily, with band and circular rigs it was rated at 150,000 feet per day. The mill's construction was supervised by C.H. Williams, the popular mill architect. The mill at Remlig was logged by two 37-ton Shay locomotives and steam skidders and loaders. The skidders and loaders could reach and drag in logs on each side of the track from a distance of 1,000 feet. Of the 150 men who worked there, 140 were unskilled, drawing $1.55 to $1.75 per day in 1914 for a ten-hour day. Payday was every second Wednesday of the month, paid in check 100% redeemable. The woods crew lived in town, leaving on the train at six, quitting the woods at five, and arriving back in town between six and six-thirty. Blacks made up about fifty percent of the work force. The company $828.25 in taxes to Jasper County in 1908. The mill was dismantled after stumpage was depleted. The Gulf Coast Lumberman reported in 1924 that the Remlig plant was making its final sawing. Early entries may place this mill at Brookeland, Pineland, or Bronson. The name Remlig was derived by spelling Gilmer backwards, since the town of Gilmer, Upshur County, was already established. Remlig had a population of 800 in May 1906. Rent for a company house at Remlig was five cents a room per day. The Gulf Coast Lumberman reported in
(Continued in Interpretative Commentary section) |
| Research Date: | JKG 10-4-93, MCJ 02-13-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M Johnson |