Sawmill DatabaseTexas Forestry Museum

Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key:

SJ-5

Corporate Name:

Bear Creek Lumber Co

Local Name:

Owner Name:

Bear Creek Lumber Co., with C. E. Sawyer and L. C. Hamblen. R. B. Weatherall.

Location:

On Highway 1725, eleven miles northwest of Cleveland

County:

San Jacinto

Years in Operation:

3 years

Start Year:

1941

End Year:

1943

Decades:

1940-1949

Period of Operation:

1941 to 1943

Town:

Northwest of Cleveland

Company Town:

Peak Town Size:

Unknown

Mill Pond:

Type of Mill:

Rough and dressed lumber

Sawmill	Pine Sawmill	Hardwood Sawmill	Cypress Sawmill
Planer	Planer Only	Shingle	Paper
Plywood	Cotton	Grist	Unknown
Other

Power Source:

Murray steam engine of 125 HP and a 72-inch by 18-foot steam boiler

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:

1941: #1 Cormacho portable sawmill. 1942: sawmill and planer-matcher

Company Tram:

Associated Railroads:

Unknown

Historicial Development:

Hamblen and Sawyer first had a portable sawmill in San Jacinto County in 1941. The mill was probably located at or near Bear Creek. The equipment may have been part of the D. R. Sawyer sawmill in San Jacinto County in 1923, for the portable sawmill and its equipment was located on the farm of Henry Everitt, north of Cleveland. Bear Creek Lumber Co bought sawmill equipment from R. B. Weatherall of Huntsville and mortgaged it on November 21, 1942, to the First National Bank of Cleveland. The property had been moved to the Bear Creek Lumber sawmill property at Bear Creek, sixteen miles northwest of Cleveland. A mortgage of 1943 lists the company's equipment: a saw mandrel, a 16-foot 3-block carriage, block and cable, three boss dogs, an edger, a trimmer, a 48-inch inserted-tooth saw, three rollers, a dust conveyor, a diesel engine, a planer-matcher, and all belts and pulleys.

Research Date:

MCJ 02-23-96

Prepared By:

M. Johnson