| Alpha-Numeric Key: | HA-2 |
| Corporate Name: | Frost Lumber Industries, Inc |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Frost Lumber Industries, Inc. H. Whited of Nacogdoches, president, 1943. Waterman Lumber Company. |
| Location: | Waskom, earlier known as Lorene: Highway 9 and railroad tracks |
| County: | Harrison |
| Years in Operation: | 39 years |
| Start Year: | 1919 |
| End Year: | 1957 |
| Decades: | 1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939,1940-1949,1950-1959 |
| Period of Operation: | Waterman: 1919 to 1928. Frost: 1928 to 1957. |
| Town: | Waskom, known as Lorene |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 1500 in 1928; 500 in 1934; 600 in 1946. 100 tenant houses. |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Pine and hardwoods; crossties and timbers. 1952: pine and hardwood.
 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: | 100000: 1928 |
| Capacity Comments: | 100,000 feet daily in 1928. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | 1928: Band, circular, and gang, planing mills, dry kilns, electric light plant
1952: Two bands, gang. |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Missouri, Kansas, & Texas (formerly Texas & Pacific). Texas and Gulf, the company shortline and logging tram road. |
| Historicial Development: | Waterman Lumber Company had lumber plants in 1915 at Blocker and Timpson, although the latter was almost cut out. When the Blocker plant of the Waterman Lumber company burned in 1918, the company began building a new plant at Waskom. The company ordered from Lufkin Foundry & Machinery the following: a Front Elevation of Mill Frame, a #2 Railed Feed Conveyor, a #1 Bailer Feed Transfer, an an Elevation of Bailer Feed Conveyor. The Waskom plant was a complete lumber-milling facility with band, circular, and gang saws, planing mills, dry kilns, and an electric light plant. The company operated its own mill town with tenant housing.
A History of Panola County, 1819 - 1978 notes that the original name of the community was Lorene. The sawmill town consisted of 100 frame houses, housing several hundred inhabitants plus four hundred workers, two hundred in the mill and two hundred on the woods crews. The community was served by a commissary, a hotel serving thirty boarders, and a two-teacher school for black students. White students were bussed to area schools.
Frost Industries, Inc., bought the plant in 1928 and closed it in 1952. The Lufkin Daily News reported that Frost Lumber operated mills at Waskom and Nacogdoches in 1943. The latter plant was under the auspices of Frost Lumber Industries. The Waskom mill had the capacity to cut both pine and hardwood lumber. The facility was still listed in the 1957 edition Directory of Wood-Using and Related Industries in East Texas. |
| Research Date: | JKG 12-20-93, MCJ 12-04-95 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M. Johnson |