| Alpha-Numeric Key: | SH-169 |
| Corporate Name: | May Brothers Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Haslam Lumber Company: Hugh G. Brown and W. T. Garrett. May Brothers Lumber Company: Thayer May of Louisiana. |
| Location: | Box 2, Haslam, near the Sabine River |
| County: | Shelby |
| Years in Operation: | 32 years |
| Start Year: | 1929 |
| End Year: | 1960 |
| Decades: | 1920-1929,1930-1939,1940-1949,1950-1959,1960-1969 |
| Period of Operation: | 1929 to later 1960s |
| Town: | Haslam |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | Unknown |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Pine and hardwood 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: | |
| Capacity Comments: | Unknown |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Circular sawmill |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Houston East & West Texas [Southern Pacific] |
| Historicial Development: | With the closing of the large Pickering Lumber Company sawmill facility at Haslam in 1930, the remaining other mill was the Haslam Lumber Company. Successive owners of the Haslam Lumber Company were Hugh L. Brown, who sold it to W. C. Garrett about 1942, and, after Garrett's death, the May Brothers of Louisiana. The sale of 1942 included trucks, log trailers, horses, and logging equipment. The transfer of the property to the May Brothers included all houses, the sawmill, all machinery, planers, dollyways, and rail spurs, etc., for $5000, located on the A Hanson survey at Haslam. G.T. Paterson served as mill manager in 1943. The East Texas Light article of July 29, 1979 states that “The sawmill at Haslam was sold to W. C. Garrett who operated it as a hardwood mill for some years under the name of May Brothers.” J. Johnson, in an interview with V. L. Beasley, also incorrectly remembers that Pickering Lumber company sold the mill and town to Garrett. The Directory of Texas Manufacturers 1954 lists the Haslam Lumber Company as being established in 1935. The owner was W. C. Garrett and the manager as G. T. Patterson. In 1966, the company is listed as running a sawmill at Joaquin with less than an hundred employees, according to Samson's directory of that year. Joaquin is located about two miles from Haslam.
W. T. Garrett began his sawmilling career at Haslam with the Pickering Lumber Company. He bought the Haslam Lumber Company in 1942. He died on November 19, 1949, after falling out of a deer stand. G. C. Garrett was mentioned as the owner of the Haslam Lumber Company by The Jacksonville Journal in 1947.
J. McSwain recalled for interviewer V. L. Beasley that May Brothers at Haslam used script at the commissary and provided tenant housing. J. Johnson told Beasley that the circular sawmill cut about twenty percent pine lumber. He remembered that the company also operated in Louisiana and Mississippi. |
| Research Date: | JKG 8-27-93, MCJ 03-01-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M Johnson |