| Alpha-Numeric Key: | TY-23 |
| Corporate Name: | Fidelity Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Fidelity Lumber Company of Long-Bell Lumber Company. Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company. |
| Location: | Doucette, three miles north of Woodville |
| County: | Tyler |
| Years in Operation: | 29 years |
| Start Year: | 1902 |
| End Year: | 1930 |
| Decades: | 1900-1909,1910-1919,1930-1939,1930-1939 |
| 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: | Steam
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 100000: 1920 |
| Capacity Comments: | 100000 board feet daily in 1920 |
| 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. S.F. Carter sold the mill and milling operations to the Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company for at least $500,000. See Emporia Lumber Company for earlier continuation of this record.
Thompson-Tucker Lumber Company's mill burned on August 4, 1908, and a 25,000-feet circular rig operated until the new 100,000-feet double band mill started operations several months later. By 1909 the entire plant had been enlarged and improved, including construction of a log pond to store four million feet of logs. Standard gauge tram roads were also constructed to replace Emporia's narrow gauge ones. After an unsatisfactory alliance with the Long-Bell Lumber Company from 1910 to 1912, the Thompsons sold the Doucette mill to Long-Bell (Robert A. Long and George S. Hays) in July 1912. The Gulf Coast Lumberman is in error that Thompson-Tucker sold the mill to its parent company, Texas Long Leaf, which was organized after the sale to Long-Bell.
Under Thompson-Tucker control, Doucette increased from 98 tenant houses in 1905 to 119 in 1910. Operating equipment in 1910 consisted of six locomotives, fifty-seven logging cars, nine miles of tram, one steam loader, and one steam skidder. The rebuilt (1908) saw mill proper building measured 56-ft by 204-ft. Electric light plant was capable of lighting the entire mill site as well as the town. Average daily mill cut for the year 1910 was 85,948 board feet. This yielded an annual mill cut of 24,059,139 board feet.
Long-Bell Lumber Company also was running the old Lufkin Land & Lumber sawmill plant at Lufkin during this period. The company closed both the Lufkin and Doucette plants in the early 1930s. |
| Research Date: | JKG 7-26 and 12-29-93, MCJ 02-21-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |