| Alpha-Numeric Key: | JA-15 |
| Corporate Name: | Kirby Lumber Company Mill S |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Kirby Lumber Company Mill S |
| Location: | Browndell (earlier known as Weed), 1007 and railroad tracks |
| County: | Jasper |
| Years in Operation: | 22 years |
| Start Year: | 1904 |
| End Year: | 1925 |
| Decades: | 1900-1909,1910-1919,1920-1929 |
| Period of Operation: | 1904 to 1925 |
| Town: | Browndell |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 900 at peak; 600 in 1928. |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | 1928: Longleaf and shortleaf yellow pine products.
| 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: | 150000: 1928 70000: 1928 |
| Capacity Comments: | 140,000 feet of lumber daily in 1904. 150,000 feet in 1906. 1928: 70,000 sawmill feet and 110,000 planing feet. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A sawmill and planing mill (after 1904), dry kilns, and two Allis-Chalmers single-cutting bands, two edgers, trimmer, and two shotgun feeds. 1928: Band sawmill, resaw, planing mill, edgers, trimmers, dry kilns, electric light plant, and commissary. |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe, and Orange and Northwestern (17-mile Kirby tram road in 1928). |
| Historicial Development: | The Kirby Lumber Company Mill S at Browndell was one of the first three mills built by the company. It began operations in 1904. A Kirby management report noted the inadequate fire protection of the plant in February 1904, and, as could be expected, the plant was destroyed by fire on August 25, the same year. Pending the decision of a proposed mill at what later became known as Aldridge, construction of the new Browndell mill was delayed. Operations of the new Browndell mill did not begin until August 1906, two years after the fire. On October 14, 1917, fire destroyed the sawmill plant, the planing mill, and the dry kilns. The new mill operated until April 24, 1925, when it was again destroyed by fire and not rebuilt. The mill, however, was listed in the 1928 Southern Lumberman's Directory of American Saw Mills and Planing Mills.
The Kirby town of Browndell was located near the area known as “Weed” in Jasper County, about eighteen miles north of Jasper. The name Browndell was derived from combining the last name of John Wilcox Brown, a Baltimore banker, and the first name of his wife Dell. The mill employed 418 workers in 1918. The dry kilns were four wood buildings operated by porcupine steam. Before the fire , the appraisal was $172,800 in February 1904. Logging on the tracks was handled by geared locomotives, probably Shay engines. In 1906, plans included building about thirty tenant homes, and a large hall, the lower floor for church and school purposes, and the upper for fraternal lodges. Browndell had an ice cream parlor and a movie theater, as did most large early sawmill towns. |
| Research Date: | LT 08-09-93; JKG 12-27-93, MCJ 12-07-95 |
| Prepared By: | L. Turner and J. Gerland, M. Johnson |