| Alpha-Numeric Key: | HD-94 |
| Corporate Name: | Beaumont Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Wiess Bluff Tram Company, George W., Jr., and J. G. Smyth. Sold to Beaumont Lumber in 1888. |
| Location: | Wiess Bluff on the Neches River, sixteen miles north of Beaumont |
| County: | Hardin |
| Years in Operation: | 11 years |
| Start Year: | 1883 |
| End Year: | 1893 |
| Decades: | 1880-1889,1890-1899 |
| Period of Operation: | Wiess Bluff Tram, 1883 to 1888. Beaumont Lumber, until the 1890s |
| Town: | Wiess Bluff |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | About 2,000 |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Sawtimber and sawlogs
| Sawmill |
Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
 Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | Animals and machinery
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | |
| Capacity Comments: | Unknown |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | Logging equipment |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | Logging tram of five mile of tracks, a 15-ton engine, 13 logging cars, 13000 acres of stumpage. |
| Historicial Development: | Upon the sale of the Smyth's Brothers' Eagle Mill to Texas Tram and Lumber, the brothers began a tram logging operation at Wiess Bluff. Owning more than 13,000 acres of good timberland, they harvested trees with a locomotive, thirteen logging cards, and five miles of trackage. In 1888, Wiess Bluff Tram was sold to Beaumont Lumber Company.
The Handbook of Texas noted that until the Kirby tram road, the Gulf, Beaumont & Kansas City, penetrated the area, the logging community numbered more than 2,000. With the tram road in place, the logging town quickly decreased in size. |
| Research Date: | MCJ 03-13-96 |
| Prepared By: | M Johnson |