| Alpha-Numeric Key: | JE-48 |
| Corporate Name: | Neches River Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Francis Adams. Adams, Solinksy, & Co. In 1907, Neches River Lumber Company, a subdivision of C. R. Cummings Export Company of Houston built a mill. |
| Location: | Beaumont, on Brake's Bayou, adjacent to the Reliance Lumber mill |
| County: | Jefferson |
| Years in Operation: | 53 years |
| Start Year: | 1878 |
| End Year: | 1930 |
| Decades: | 1870-1879,1880-1889,1900-1909,1910-1919 |
| Period of Operation: | 1878 to 1884 (Adams, Solinsky, & Co); 1907- 1930s (Neches River Lumber Company) |
| Town: | Beaumont |
| Company Town: | 2 |
| Peak Town Size: | 25,000 in 1905 |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Lumber, shingles; hardwood lumber after 1907
 Sawmill |
 Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | 1880: two boilers, a 45-horsepower steam engine.
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 20000: 1885 50000: 1907 |
| Capacity Comments: | 20,000 in the 1880s; 50,000 in 1907 |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | 1880: one 3-gang saw, one circular saw, two boilers, a 45-horsepower steam engine. 1907: band sawmill, dry kilns. |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Texas and New Orleans |
| Historicial Development: | Bernard Milmo partnered with Columbus C. Caswell in 1878, Milmo doing the sawmilling and Caswell the logging. The 1880 Census recorded that the d capital value of the mill was $9,000. Employing an average of eighteen workers with a maximum of twenty-two, the mill paid a daily skilled wage of $2.50 and an unskilled of $1.40, with the annum wage totaling $2,500. The mill cut 1,200,000 board feet worth $12,000. Milmo sold out to Francis Adams in 1882 for $6,900. Milmo took W. B. and S. A. McCarty on a one-third interest, and Henry Solinksy on a one-third interest in 1882, the company becoming Adams, Solinksy, and Company. In 1883, the mill was converted to a cypress shingle mill. When the Neches flooded in June 1884, more than 12,000 feet of cypress timber floated away. Apparently, the loss of raw materials finished the mill economically.
In 1907, C. R. Cummings built a mill on the old Adams and Milmo site. Chartering the Neches River Lumber Company, with C. R. Cummings the major stockholder and the Neches River Lumber vice president, H. C. Huff was the president and Sam Powell the secretary treasurer. It was built next to Magnolia Cemetery and adjacent to the Reliance sawmill on Brake's Bayou. The mill continued operations until at least 1930.
|
| Research Date: | MCJ 03-12-96 |
| Prepared By: | M Johnson |