Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key:	WK-93
Corporate Name:	Oliphint Lumber Company
Local Name:
Owner Name:	Oliphint Lumber Company with Clarence D. Oliphint with L. P. Duett and J. P. Morrow. Trinity River Lumber Company, a division of Foster Lumber Company. Walker County Lumber Company.
Location:	Oliphant Switch or Elmina, one and three-quarter miles north of New Waverly
County:	Walker
Years in Operation:	10 years
Start Year:	1894
End Year:	1903
Decades:	1890-1899,1900-1909
Period of Operation:	1894 to 1898 (sold to Trinity River), operated under lease until 1903.
Town:	Oliphant Switch or Elmina
Company Town:	1
Peak Town Size:	Unknown
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill:	Rough and finished lumber Sawmill Pine Sawmill Hardwood Sawmill Cypress Sawmill Planer Planer Only Shingle Paper Plywood Cotton Grist Unknown Other
Power Source:	10-inch by 12-inch steam engine, a Star State 40-horsepower boiler, three 44-inch by 18-ft boilers, a 16-inch by 24-inch steam engine, Horse Mule Oxen Water Water Overshot Water Turbine Diesel Unknown Pit Steam Steam Circular Steam Band Gas Electricity Other
Maximum Capacity:	50000: 189675000: 1898
Capacity Comments:	50,000 feet daily in 1896 and 75,000 feet by 1898
Produced:	Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board Treated Other
Equipment:	Sawmill and planing mill. This included an automatic gummer, a shotgun, a saw carriage, a mandrel, a saw frame, a 4-saw edger, a cutoff saw, a trimmer,
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads:	International & Great Northern
Historicial Development:	Mrs. E. C. Fisher owned sawmill property and land on the former Lem Collard land about a mile and a half north of New Waverly. Through a series of transactions, Morrow and Duett bought this land and property plus property and equipment from J. C. Smithers and W. C. Posey. They with C. D. Oliphant expanded and operated this sawmill, located on the tracks of the International & Great Northern, until October, 1898. C. D. Oliphant ended up with control of the sawmill. C. D. Oliphant (also spelled as Oliphint) operated sawmills at Clinesburg about 1895 and Ulmer about 1906. In September, 1898, C. D. Oliphant mortgaged to his brother T. W. Oliphant, for $3,000, the stock and goods of his commissary, a Worthington steam pump, five horses, and two carts. Foster Lumber extended credit to Oliphint Lumber, which the latter unwisely accepted. When it defaulted, the mill and property, however, passed to B. A. Eastham and Mrs. E. O. Oliphant, who sold it on October 1, 1900, to Trinity River Lumber Company (Foster Lumber's purchasing agent), along with the tram extension from the sawmill into the surrounding pineries. A series of transactions recorded after 1899 in the Walker County Bills of Sale registers indicate clearly that Oliphant continued to operated the mill under lease until at least September 1902. A letterhead found in the Angelina County Lumber Company records at Stephen F. Austin State University has been stamped in red ink and reads, “Trinity River Lumber Company, Successors to Oliphint Lumber Company.” Although C. D. Oliphint no longer owned the mill, Trinity River permitted him to lease it until at least 1903. The mill also appeared in a 1903 edition of a Foster Lumber Company price list. The letter and the price list record the mill's capacity at between 70,000 and 75,000 board feet per day. The mill, however, does not appear in a sawmill list published by the Southern Industrial and Lumber Review in September 1906. See Walker County Lumber Company at Elmina.
Research Date:	MCJ 03-31-96
Prepared By:	M Johnson