| Alpha-Numeric Key: | AG-4 |
| Corporate Name: | Martin Wagon Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Lufkin Foundry with B. L. Zeagler, president; J. W. Lewis, secretary-treasurer. Martin Wagon Company with D.W. Martin, founder. |
| Location: | Lufkin Avenue, across from Kurth Memorial Library |
| County: | Angelina |
| Years in Operation: | 21 years |
| Start Year: | 1910 |
| End Year: | 1930 |
| Decades: | 1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939 |
| Period of Operation: | 1910 to 1930 |
| Town: | Lufkin |
| Company Town: | 2 |
| Peak Town Size: | Unknown |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Hardwoods for manufacturing a variety of logging wagons, carts, buggies, school buses.
 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: | 20000: 1928 |
| Capacity Comments: | 20,000 feet daily in 1928 |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A steam circular sawmill with two mills, edgers and trimmers. |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | St Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt), Houston East & West Texas. |
| Historicial Development: | The Martin Wagon Company company was an outgrowth of the enterprises of D. W. Martin, an inventor and craftsman, who had been making wagons of sorts in the early 1900s. The sawmill was built about 1910 to cut primarily hardwoods for manufacturing various logging wagons, carts, and buggies needed for the large East Texas sawmill industry. The The Zeagler family interests of Lufkin were involved fairly early in Martin Wagon Company. The business was profitable, employing over 100 workers in the Lufkin area. Martin wagons were distributed all over the United States, Mexico and South America. Although logging wagons were the firm's early specialty, oil field buggies and wagons were also manufactured.
The mill burned about 1930, and the coming of the Great Depression crippled the business, which went bankrupt in 1936. In 1939, the business was sold to Lufkin Foundry, which evolved into the large Lufkin Industries company. |
| Research Date: | JKG 12-29-93, MCJ 2-14-95 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M Johnson |