| Alpha-Numeric Key: | TR-32 |
| Corporate Name: | Trinity County Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | Trinity County Lumber Company |
| Owner Name: | M. S.T. Sloan, W.T. Joyce of Trinity County Lumber Company |
| Location: | South of Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad tracks, bounded by Front, Alley and School at Groveton |
| County: | Trinity |
| Years in Operation: | 49 years |
| Start Year: | 1882 |
| End Year: | 1930 |
| Decades: | 1880-1889,1890-1899,1900-1909,1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939 |
| Period of Operation: | 1882 to December 31, 1930 |
| Town: | Groveton (Atmar) |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 1905: 600 employees, 125 tenant houses |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | 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: | 12000: 1893 15000: 1904 |
| Capacity Comments: | 120,000 feet daily from 1893 until 1904; 150,000 daily feet from 1904 until 1930. Planing mill capacity in 1928 was 250,000 feet. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A complete saw mill proper with dry kilns, planing mill, and lath mill. It had two double cutting band saws and one horizontal band slab resaw. The mill had three bands by at least 1928, electric light plant. A 26-inch by 48-inch 550 H.P.F&SC engines r |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Trinity & Sabine Railway. Groveton, Lufkin, & Northern Railway, a incorporated tapline and 20-mile logging tram road |
| Historicial Development: | The Trinity County Lumber Company was chartered in 1882 under Iowa state laws. The company's first president, M.S.T. Jones, moved to Groveton the same year and supervised construction of the first mill. Much of this mill's finished lumber was sent to Austin to be used in constructing the new state capitol. A second, more efficient mill began operation on July 5, 1904. It burned September 1 the same year. The rebuilt mill was scheduled to begin again in April 1905 as a twin double cutting band rig with a horizontal band slab resaw. The company built a tram road twenty-one miles to Vair in 1900, and in 1908 chartered the line as the Groveton, Lufkin, and Northern Railroad, providing connections with the International and Great Northern and the Cotton Belt in Lufkin via the Texas Southeastern from Vair. Annual rental of trackage rights over the Texas and Southeastern was $450 per mile in 1912.
The mill's advertised daily cutting capacities (approaching 300,000BF) were rated considering a two-shift day, and the mill most likely ran night shifts often since its light plant consisted of two dynamos (lighting 800 incandescent and 20 arc lamps). Six hundred men were reported employed in 1905, and company property consisted of 125 houses, eighteen miles of tram lines, seventy logging cars, and five locomotives. The mill was fed daily by six log trains. Dry sheds held three million feet of lumber, and the yard held another 20 million. Planing mill capacity was 250,000 feet per day in 1928. Timber resources were scarce by the late 1920s, and, with the coming of the depression, the mill closed on December 31, 1930. The Gulf Coast Lumberman announced on January 1, 1931, the mill a final cut on December 15, 1930.
A popular attraction for company families was the dance pavilion located at the center of one of the mill lakes. In addition to a six foot wide pier, it was easily accessed by either rowboat or swimming.
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| Research Date: | JKG 7-26-93, MCJ 6-6-94 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |