| Historicial Development: | The “first” of anything may be difficult to ascertain. According to Hamilton P. Easton's research, the first sawmill in Texas for which specific mention can be found was probably located in or near Nacogdoches, although he stresses the possibility of there being other mills for which no records have survived. Easton's wrote: “The Nacogdoches mill is mentioned by Ernest W. Winkler in his article, “The First Newspaper in Texas”an item in “Notes and Fragments,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly.. Winkler quotes the St. Louis Inquirer of September 25, 1819 (an issue no longer extant), which gave notice of the first number of the Texas Republican, published at Nacogdoches under date of August 14, 1819. The Inquirer notes an advertisement in the Texas Republican “that a Mr. Madden has engaged in building a saw and grist mill, and that this is a strange activity for a Spanish town.””
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