Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: HD-87
Corporate Name: Williams Lumber Company or Brown & Williams
Local Name:
Owner Name: Williams Lumber Company or Brown & Williams . G. W. Brown, David J. Williams, and H.P. Gunsendorf (Geisendorf)
Location: Thicket, about seventeen miles west of Kountze, on the GC&SF just north of Kountze,
County: Hardin
Years in Operation: 14 years
Start Year: 1904
End Year: 1917
Decades: 1900-1909,1910-1919
Period of Operation: 1904 to 1917
Town: William's Station, also known as Thicket
Company Town: 2
Peak Town Size: Unknown
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill: Manufactures yellow pine lumber
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: 45000: 190545000: 1910
Capacity Comments: 45,000 to 50,000 feet daily
Produced:
Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers
Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading
Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board
Treated Other
Equipment: Sawmill
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads: Santa Fe at Votaw in 1907
Historicial Development: After finishing at Batson, G. W. Brown and David J. Williams of Brown & Williams ran a sawmill from 1904 to about 1915 at Thicket, also known as William's Station, some three miles southwest from Bragg, according to Robert L. Schaadt and Thelma Y'Barbo See. The following appeared in the American Lumberman on March 25, 1905: “Williams and Gunsendorf have begun work on their new mill at Bragg, on the Center branch of the Santa Fe. The firm, which has a capital stock of $25,000, owns 640 acres of stumpage.” The Williams Lumber Company plant was producing 45,000 feet of lumber daily in 1906, according to the Southern Industrial and Lumber Review. The ownership of the Williams Lumber Company consisted of G. W. Brown, David J. Williams, and H.P. Gunsendorf (or Geisendorf). David J. Williams was a son of David J. Williams, Sr., who operated a mill in or near Kountze for several years in the 1880s, which was known as the Brown & Williams Mill. They also operated a sawmill and planing mill under the name of the Texas Lumber Manufacturing Company at Honey Island in 1909.
Research Date: JKG 10-13-93, MCJ 03-13-96
Prepared By: J Gerland, M Johnson