| Alpha-Numeric Key: | LI-53 |
| Corporate Name: | Kirby Lumber Company, Mill O |
| Local Name: | Fuqua Mill O |
| Owner Name: | Kirby Lumber Company, Mill O. Hackney Brothers,1901-1902. Kirby Lumber Company,1902-1935. |
| Location: | Fuqua, about twenty-three miles west of Kountze, near Menard Creek |
| County: | Liberty |
| Years in Operation: | 27 years |
| Start Year: | 1901 |
| End Year: | 1927 |
| Decades: | 1900-1909,1910-1919,1920-1929 |
| Period of Operation: | Hackney Bros, 1901; Kirby, 1902 to about 1927. |
| Town: | Fuqua, also known as Menard |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 450 in 1902; 800, 1905 |
| 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: | 1901: steam with Lane & Bodley engines and boilers. 1905: 150-horsepower steam engine
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 50000: 1901 100000: 1904 |
| Capacity Comments: | From 50,000 feet of lumber daily in 1901 to 100,000 in 1904. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | 1901: double circular sawmill. 1902: 8-ft Allis bandsaw, pony gang, edger, trimmer, shotgun feed to 36-ft, dry kiln, and planing mill.
|
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe |
| Historicial Development: | Tom L. and David C. Hackney built this plant in 1901. John Henry Kirby, considering purchasing the mill, sent Sam T. Swinford to survey it in December, 1901. Swinford's report revealed the mill building was two stories, 36-ft by 161-ft. Located 150 feet north of the Santa Fe rails, the double circular mill, powered by two “old” Lane and Bodley boilers and two 50-horsepower Lane and Bodley engines. Water from Menard Creek, about 3000 feet from the mill, was pumped to fill the mill pond; it was used for the boilers and not the logs. The mill had an estimated daily capacity of 50,000 feet,. Kirby purchased the mill and timber rights to a little over 10,000 acres of timber in January 1902. He immediately replaced the mill's circular saw headrig with band and gang mills, increasing the mill's capacity to 100,000 board feet per day. A planing mill and a dry kiln were also added. The electric light plant was powered by the main engine. A company map of 1935 indicated it was still an operating mill in the Kirby chain. David C. Hackney supervised Kirby's remodeling of the plant, but by July 1903 was the superintendent at Kirby's Ariola mill in Hardin County. The mill apparently experienced labor problems during its early days. In 1908, the Santa Fe station agent, J. J. Razmir, shot down a tie maker named Cullam, who had assaulted Razmir while drunk. A Kirby evaluation done in February, 1904 reported that the mill was “giving better results,” after having dealt with “disturbers” among the employees. By 1905, 200 tenant houses, a commissary, depot, dispensary, barber ship, and a meat market had been built. Each race had a church and school house. Payroll was in company script and only negotiable at the commissary. Health care was deducted at $1.50 a month. In 1918, 309 employees were paid $168,000. The mill did not appear in Kirby statements in 1928 or in the 1928 edition of Southern Lumberman's Directory of American Saw Mills and Planing Mills.
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| Research Date: | LT 08-09-93; JKG 11-4-93; MCJ 03-15-96 |
| Prepared By: | L Turner, J Gerland, M Johnson |