Research: Sawmill Database

Alpha-Numeric Key: PK-79
Corporate Name: Livingston Lumber Company
Local Name:
Owner Name: Livingston Lumber Company. 1885: David Zimmerman; 1900: John W. Cochran, S. H. Smith, W. G. Standley, and Cade Bethea. Later, Waterman and Die. Buck Reynolds.
Location: Two miles north of Livingston at Buck (Zimmerman): at Buck and Depot
County: Polk
Years in Operation: 34 years
Start Year: 1885
End Year: 1918
Decades: 1880-1889,1890-1899,1900-1909,1910-1919
Period of Operation: 1885 to 1918
Town: Buck, north of Livingston
Company Town: 1
Peak Town Size: 25 in 1906
Mill Pond:
Type of Mill: Manufacturers of rough and dressed yellow pine 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: 75000: 1902
Capacity Comments: 75,000 feet daily in 1902
Produced:
Rough Lumber Planed Lumber Crossties Timbers
Lathe Ceiling Unknown Beading
Flooring Paper Plywood Particle Board
Treated Other
Equipment: Sawmill and general store; planing mill by 1900.
Company Tram:
Associated Railroads: Houston East & West Texas at Livingston
Historicial Development: David Zimmerman built the sawmill at Buck (sometimes mistaken for Stanley) about 1885. He later sold it to John W. Cochran. The letterhead of the Livingston Lumber Company, dated May 17, 1900, can be found in the Angelina County Lumber Company Records. This company is listed in the Reference Book of the Lumbermen's Credit Association, January 1907 as a manufacturer of yellow pine lumber and as an operator of a general store at Buck. Buck Reynolds brought many of his former employees from Arkansas to work in the Polk County mill. A company town grew up with a school, tenant housing, a commissary, hotel, and church. The mill operated until 1918. The logging tram operation employed a locomotive named the “Old One Hundred.” The Polk County Enterprise reported in 1908 that a tram road wreck killed five and injured four. According to the writer, “This was the worst wreck that has ever happened in East Texas.” Keeling reported that the company had one geared and four rod locomotives and ten miles of track.
Research Date: JKG 9-7-93, MCJ 02-27-96
Prepared By: J. Gerland, M Johnson