Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key:	TR-29
Corporate Name:	Southland Paper Mills. Rock Creek Lumber. Sabine Lumber. Thompson Brothers.
Local Name:	Trinity
Owner Name:	Southland Paper Mills. Rock Creek Lumber Company bought Thompson Brothers. Rock Creek was a subdivision of the Sabine Lumber Company. Rock Creek: J. W. Ferguson, J. W. Reynolds, H. H. Thompson. Sabine: J. W. Ferguson.
Location:	Sequoyah community (northwest Trinity on 19, just west of Mill Pond)
County:	Trinity
Years in Operation:	46 years
Start Year:	1910
End Year:	1955
Decades:	1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939,1940-1949,1950-1959
Period of Operation:	Began operations in 1910 and closed in June 1955
Town:	Trinity (Sequoyah)
Company Town:	1
Peak Town Size:	856 in 1905, 3000 in 1928. Commissary and more than 100 tenant houses.
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill:	All grades of finished and unfinished lumber, timbers; longleaf and shortleaf pine; 80% board stock; flooring. Sawmill Pine Sawmill Hardwood Sawmill Cypress Sawmill Planer Planer Only Shingle Paper Plywood Cotton Grist Unknown Other
Power Source:	Steam: a twin 20-inch by 30-inch Houston, Stanwood and Gamble ran entire saw mill, but the gang saw. Horse Mule Oxen Water Water Overshot Water Turbine Diesel Unknown Pit Steam Steam Circular Steam Band Gas Electricity Other
Maximum Capacity:	120000: 1915110000: 1928
Capacity Comments:	120,000 daily capacity of board feet in 1915; 110,000 in 1928. 150,000 feet for the planing mill in 1928
Produced:	Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board Treated Other
Equipment:	A complete lumber mill with, a saw mill proper, dry kilns, and planing mill. 1928: Double band and single band, planing mill, resaw, edgers, trimmers, gang saw, dry kilns, logging road, electric light plant
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads:	International & Great Northern, and Trinity & Sabine
Historicial Development:	The Thompson Brothers, having large timber holdings in Trinity County, decided against enlarging the old Willard sawmill in 1907, and built a new mill at Trinity. A financial panic delayed construction for two years. Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company in 1909. The double band and pony gang mill operated until it burned on July 19, 1920. Lufkin Foundry built another mill, which began operating on January 8, 1921. The Foundry mislabeled the drawings under the name of the Rack Crab [Rock Creek] Lumber Company. Rock Creek Lumber was, as was Texas Long Leaf Lumber, a the creation of Paul T. Sanderson, who, as a part of Sanderson-Ferguson, bought out the Thompsons in 1917, according to The Gulf Coast Lumberman. Rock Creek was a subdivision of the Sabine Lumber Company, owned by J. W. Ferguson. The new mill was nearly identical to the previous one, except for the installation of a larger and more powerful gang saw and increased utilization of “slow burning” construction, i.e., creosoting and galvanized corrugated covering of the building frame. A new electric plant was also added which, in addition to providing electric lighting, pumped water from the Trinity River, six miles away. At a meeting of stockholders, on September 24, 1947, H. H. Thompson noted that all indebtedness had been paid incrued since 1907 had been paid, and that the company had been in a state of liquidation since 1931. Thompson recommended that the company be dissolved, which was completed by 1952. Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company sold the New Willard and Trinity operations to Southland Paper Mills, Inc., in the summer of 1952. In March, 1953, the mill's operating name was changed to Southland Paper Mills, Inc.Lumber Division. The mill closed in June 1955. Purchased by the Trinity Development Corporation, the old site was intended to be promoted for an industrial sector and home sites.
Research Date:	JKG 9-1-93; 12-29-93; MCJ 02-22-96
Prepared By:	J. Gerland, M. Johnson