| Alpha-Numeric Key: | PK-110 |
| Corporate Name: | Sam Allen and Company |
| Local Name: | Mulvey Mills |
| Owner Name: | Sam C. Allen, John K. Allen, John Donovan, and, later, McDougald |
| Location: | Mulvey (Wats): one and one-half miles east of Barnum on Highway 287 |
| County: | Polk |
| Years in Operation: | 12 years |
| Start Year: | 1884 |
| End Year: | 1895 |
| Decades: | 1880-1889,1890-1899 |
| Period of Operation: | By 1884 to 1895 |
| Town: | Mulvey (Wats) |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | Unknown |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Rough
 Sawmill |
 Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | Steam. Two boilers.
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 20000: 1889 25000: 1893 |
| Capacity Comments: | 20,000 in 1889; 25,000 feet daily in 1893. |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A sawmill with at least three circular saws, a gummer, a carriage, a saw mandrel, a saw frame, a 4-saw edger, a cutoff saw, sawdust chain, nine lumber dollies, sawdust cart, and a blacksmith shop. |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Trinity & Sabine (Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine; Missouri, Kansas & Texas) connecting at Gail to the company tram road. |
| Historicial Development: | Samuel Allen and Company owned and operated many sawmills during the Texas lumber boom. Three of them were in Polk County along the Trinity & Sabine: Gail, Asia, and Mulvey Mills. The Mills, near the Tyler county line, was built by 1884, for an Allen mill at Wats, with Corrigan as its post office, did appear in Rand, McNally and Company's directory of lumber mills for the year 1884. Allen was using the mills to fill his lumber yard at Houston.
Because Allen's timber was surrounded by W. T Carter lands, he was unable to tram it to his planing mill at Asia. He cut out the 2,500 acres, milled the timber at Mulvey, and shipped it over the Trinity Tap to his Asia mill for planing. The mill at Mulvey was small, cutting about 20,000 board feet per day in 1889 and 25,000 feet daily in 1893. Allen's former superintendent at Asia, McDougald, was a partner by 1893 with Allen at Mulvey. The timber was probably cut out by 1895 to 1896. According to Walker County records, some equipment of the “Mulvey Mills” was sold to the Oliphant Lumber Company at New Waverly in 1898.
The company tram road rolling stock consisted of a narrow gauge Porter-Bell tram locomotive #425. |
| Research Date: | JKG 11-16-93, MCJ 02-27-96 |
| Prepared By: | J. Gerland, M Johnson |