| Alpha-Numeric Key: | TR-31 |
| Corporate Name: | Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | Willard |
| Owner Name: | Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company. John M. Thompson, Henry Tucker, J. E. Tucker, Benjamin F. Thompson, & J. Lewis Thompson |
| Location: | Willard, on 287, 4.3 miles east on 287 from 287/2262 intersection |
| County: | Trinity |
| Years in Operation: | 29 years |
| Start Year: | 1882 |
| End Year: | 1910 |
| Decades: | 1880-1889,1890-1899,1900-1909,1910-1919 |
| Period of Operation: | May 1882 to April 1910 |
| Town: | Willard, now Woodlake. |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 300, 1889; 500, 1905; 700 in 1906. |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Producing all grades of finished and unfinished lumber and timbers
| 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: | 80,000 |
| Capacity Comments: | From 6,000 board feet daily then 12,000 feet, 1882; 40,000, 1882-1889; 80,000 in twelve hours, 1889-1910, and a planer capacity of 100,000 board feet in a twelve-hour shift. |
| 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 single circular proper, dry kilns, and planing mill. Main saw mill engine was a 20”x42” in 1908, previously used in the 1884 World's Fair in New Orleans. |
| Company Tram: |  |
| Associated Railroads: | Trinity & Sabine Railway (Missouri, Kansas & Texas). Connected to International & Great Northern at Trinity. |
| Historicial Development: | With the death of William Wirt Thompson in 1874, John M. Thompson and Henry Tucker established a continuing partnership. The Thompson and Tucker families moved from Rusk County, where they had been in the business since the 1850s, and built a large plant at Willard in 1882. in Rusk County during the 1850s. Seeking better stands of timber and rail connections, the business moved its semi-portable 12,000-foot daily-capacity mill from Rusk County to a position along the Trinity & Sabine. In the fall of 1882, with the arrival of the railroad, a new 40,000-foot mill had been built. The original sawmill was converted into a planing mill. A larger 80,000 feet daily capacity plant was built and in operation by 1889. By 1909, nearby timber resources were scarce, and new mills were built at Sequoyah (Trinity) and New Willard. The company ceased operations at Willard in April, 1910. Willard's largest annual mill cut was 17,289,386 board feet for the year 1903.
Willard was a Texas sawmill town. In 1905, the community consisted of 130 houses, a commissary, two segregated churches (shared by the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist denominations), and two segregated schools. In 1909, the town had 105 homes, a hotel, and two boarding houses. A 75-horsepower electric plant had been installed by then, powering 500 incandescent and 19 arc lamps. Population increased from 300 in 1889 to 500 in 1905. Flora G. Bowles noted that the company provided “lights and waterworks” . . . and the houses were provided with most of the modern conveniences of the city.” Employees on the 1905 payroll totaled 150. Some yards had flowers, and one resident operated a “green house.” Willard had a community park, which, in addition to a baseball field, included a croquet lawn. One of Willard's artificial ponds, built in 1896, was “a good fishing place,” according to J. Lewis Thompson, company president.
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| Research Date: | JKG 7-22-93, MCJ 02-22-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |