| Historicial Development: | W. W. Waterman Lumber Company bought lands from Trekell & Rounds Lumber Company in Panola and Harrison counties during 1907. Deeds of Trust from 1908 to 1911 reveal that Waterman had more than 15,000 acres and a sawmill facility at Blocker, in Harrison County. Machinery at the sawmill included a 16-inch by 18-inch side-crank Ames steam engine, a 72-inch by 18-foot boiler, a Curtis sawmill with feed, husk, mandrel, carriage, blocks, live rollers, etc; a 50-inch four-saw edger; a 24-foot trimmer; and nine lumber wagons. The Deeds of Trust were redeemed.
The company built a mill town and provided tenant housing, commissary goods, and medical services for its employees and their families.
On January 18, 1911, the company executed a Deed of Trust to Jones & Jones on the old sawmill plus the new mill built at the Blocker plant. It consisted of four 72-inch by 18-foot steam boilers, a 20-inch by 42-inch steam engine, a band mill with a 26-saw gang, etc. and an eight-mile tram road of 45# rails with a 421/2-ton Baldwin locomotive, a 23-ton Climax locomotive, an American log load, etc. The Deed of Trust was redeemed.
This facility appeared in a 1915 directory of sawmills as having a daily cutting capacity of 60,000 feet. Flooring was the mill's specialty, and only twenty-five percent of the mill's output was in ties. In 1916, Waterman Lumber Company built a new hardwood mill at Blocker, also referred to as the “new” mill at Peach near Marshall, reported The Gulf Coast Lumberman. That trade journal reported on April 1, 1918, that fire at the facility destroyed the sawmill, dry kilns, and two large sheds; estimated total loss was about $100,000.
The plant was rebuilt about ten miles to the east at a place called Waskom. On August 1, 1928 (filed on March 11, 1929), W. W. Waterman sold out its lands and property in Panola and Harrison counties to Frost Industries Corporation of Texas.
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