| Alpha-Numeric Key: | TY-23 |
| Corporate Name: | Emporia Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | Sunset or Emporia |
| Owner Name: | Emporia Lumber Company. Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company. See Thompson-Tucker entry at Doucette for continuation of this record. |
| Location: | Doucette, three miles north of Woodville |
| County: | Tyler |
| Years in Operation: | 29 years |
| Start Year: | 1902 |
| End Year: | 1930 |
| Decades: | 1900-1909,1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939 |
| Period of Operation: | 1902 to early 1930s |
| Town: | Doucette |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 500 in 1905 |
| 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: | 125 -horsepower steam engine
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 65000: 1910 |
| Capacity Comments: | 65,000 to 75,000 feet daily |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A complete lumber mill, including a saw mill proper, dry kilns, and planing mill, with a single circular that could cut up to 34-feet lengths. |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Texas & New Orleans |
| Historicial Development: | The owners of Emporia Lumber Company (S.F. Carter, J.P. Carter, and M.T. Jones, the latter being bought out by the Carters no later than 1900) built a Doucette mill sometime between 1900 and 1902. Unverified manuscripts also allege Emporia bought out the Nebraska Lumber Company mill as well. Emporia operated it under the name of Sunset Lumber Company, which was incorporated on September 16, 1902. Possibly, it was constructed on Pete Doucette's old Nebraska site. The new operation soon prospered. For a time, the company entertained plans of enlarging the plant to a double band rig in 1904. Emporia failed to sell the mill in January 1905 to the Pickering Lumber Company of Kansas City, which intended to operate it under the name of the Wolf River Lumber Company. S.F. Carter, president of the Emporia and Sunset companies, did, however, find a buyer in 1906, and sold the mill and milling operations to the Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company for at least $500,000. Steam powered five Houston, Stanwood and Gamble 72-inch by 18-foot boilers for the main saw engine. Band saws were Diamond Iron Works (14 in.) and carriages were 36-ft and 24-36 ft long. In 1905 the company town consisted of ninety-eight houses, three churches (two of which were African-American), two segregated schools, a drug store, post office, hotel, and one commissary. The average attendance was for six months a year in 1904 in the schools. The company employed 225 men that year. Rail operations included equipment of two regular locomotives, three Shay locomotives, 35 log cars, and sixteen miles of narrow gauge tram lines. After selling the Emporia Lumber Company mills, S. F. Carter established the Lumbermen's National Bank in Houston, and Press Carter continued milling elsewhere in East Texas as president of the Carter Lumber Company, not to be confused with W.T. Carter and Brother.
See Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company for continuation of this record.
|
| Research Date: | JKG 7-26 and 12-29-93, MCJ 02-21-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |