| Alpha-Numeric Key: | AG-20 |
| Corporate Name: | Champion International Corporation. |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Southland Paper Mills. St. Regis. Champion-International. R.W. Wortham, Jr., president (1967). Originally, Ernest Kurth. |
| Location: | Hertys, .02 miles east beyond intersection of 104 and 842 |
| County: | Angelina |
| Years in Operation: | 57 years |
| Start Year: | 1940 |
| End Year: | 1996 |
| Decades: | 1940-1949,1950-1959,1960-1969,1970-1979,1980-1989,1990-1999 |
| Period of Operation: | From operations in 1940 to 1996 |
| Town: | Herty, now in Lufkin city limits |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | Lufkin, more than 30,000 in 1990. |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Newsprint [paper]
 Sawmill |
Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
 Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | Steam and electricity
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | |
| Capacity Comments: | 50,000 tons in 1940. 100,000 tons in 1948. 200,000 tons in 1959. 6,000 rolls weekly of newsprint and brown wrapping in 1965. Eight percent of the nation's newsprint in 1990. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Paper mill |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Angelina & Neches River Railroad |
| Historicial Development: | Southland Paper Mills, Inc., was the first plant in Texas to make newsprint from southern yellow pine. It was the child of the imagination and scientific work of Ernest L. Kurth and Charles Herty. Financing requirements were large. In return for stock in the proposed paper mill, the company received 47,000 acres of timberland located in the counties of Angelina, Houston, Polk, and Trinity from Southern Pine Lumber Company. Organized in 1939 and operating by January 1940, Southland Paper Mills produced 50,000 tons of newsprint during its first year of production.
Under Kurth's direction, the mill expanded its output from fifty to one hundred thousand tons, in 1948, according to The Gulf Coast Lumberman. In 1952, Southland bought the Texas Long Leaf Lumber mills at New Willard and Trinity, which had been Thompson and Tucker sawmills originally. Champion had twenty percent of the action. The fourth newsprint machine was added in January, 1959, which increased production to 300,000 tons annually. By 1965, the Lufkin plant had 1000 jobs, with a $7,000,000 payroll. Production was 6,000 rolls weekly of newsprint and brown wrapping paper. It was the only Texas newsprint mill of the time. In 1975, the company had acquired a seventh newsprint machine, which would could produce 200,000 tons annually.
In 1977, Southland merged with St. Regis, which merged with Champion International in 1984. In 1990, it produced 8% of the nation's print. |
| Research Date: | JKG 11-5-93, MCJ 12-04-95 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M Johnson |