| Alpha-Numeric Key: | PK-8 |
| Corporate Name: | Allen and Williams Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Allen and Williams Lumber Company. Sam Allen and T. H. Williams. |
| Location: | Gail: two and a half miles east on FM 352 from Highway 59 |
| County: | Polk |
| Years in Operation: | 18 years |
| Start Year: | 1882 |
| End Year: | 1899 |
| Decades: | 1880-1889,1890-1899 |
| Period of Operation: | 1882 to no longer than 1899 |
| Town: | Gail |
| Company Town: | 2 |
| Peak Town Size: | 1,000, 1889. |
| 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: | Steam
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 20000: 1893 |
| Capacity Comments: | 20,000 feet daily in 1893 |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Sawmill and planing mill |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Trinity & Sabine junction in 1882 (later Missouri, Kansas, & Texas; later Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine) |
| Historicial Development: | The firm of Allen and Williams was one of many early East Texas sawmilling businesses to follow the construction of the railroads to tap the most easily accessible pine stumpage. The company appeared in a 1880 Chicago lumber publication as operating two mills south of the Trinity River, near the tracks of the Houston East and West Texas Railway. Allen and Williams moved their mills to the area of Gail in Polk County with the post office at Corrigan by 1882. From 1889 to 1893, the mill had a daily capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 feet. The planer, in 1889, could finish 50,000 feet daily. The mill was not listed in “Texas' Timbered Wealth,” Galveston Daily News, January 1, 1900.
According to Ruth Peebles, A Pictorial History of Polk County, Texas, Allen & Williams were the first commercial company established in Corrigan. During the building of the railroad, it was claimed that small sawmills and large tie camps were located every few miles in every direction.
A newspaper report of 1889 noted that Corrigan had schools for both races and a population of about 1,000.
J. L. Henderson and Company operated a store in Corrigan. Jim, the father, was a noted gamesman. His son, Simon, would become Joseph Kurth's partner at Keltys in the Angelina County Lumber Company.
|
| Research Date: | JKG 12-14-93, MCJ 02-26-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland |