Dayton's Early Economy

Dayton's Early Economy. . Following the War Between the States, planters in the area stocked their lands with cattle and horses. Ranching was the primary business around Dayton until the turn of the twentieth century when rice farming and lumbering became the big industries that shaped the economy of the town and surrounding area., During the decade 1900-1910, families came from Kansas, lowa, and Illinois by box cars packed with belongings, furniture, farm equipment, and livestock to settle the Dayton area after reading newspaper accounts of the rich black soil and prairie land to be had. Many also came to escape the harsh winters up north. Men such as C.S. Brown and J.E. Berry helped lay the infra-structure that made rice farming profitable. Rice farming continued to thrive for most of the twentieth century and was the main crop for many multi-generational farming families., The Dayton Lumber Company (DLC) was also instrumental in the development of early Dayton. The DLC was organized in December 1905 by the Alfred Bennett Lumber Co. of St. Louis, Missouri. One hundred acres was sold to the company for $16 provided that the owners would construct a 75,000 square foot sawmill, build sixteen miles of tram road with steel rails to Lamb (a log camp north of Dayton) and cut at least 50,000 feet of lumber daily, which they did. A Beaumont Enterprise article in 1915 said:, Dayton Lumber Company - the first institution to take Dayton out of the "one store-post office" class with a capitol of $3,000,000, a daily capacity of 90,000 feet, and plenty of timber in sight for many years' run, has given employment to 250 men, and is, within itself, a little town, comprising beside the plant, some 100 residences, store, office buildings, hotel, and the depot of the Trinity Valley and Northern Railroad. The railroad is a direct product of the mill and now operates passenger and mail trains out of Dayton., Among the incorporators was Ross S. Sterling, later governor of Texas.., The Southern Industrial and Lumber Review said of the DLC:, It is perhaps the most remarkable mill in Texas...the Dayton mill is one of the finest institutions of its size that has ever been brought into existence for the manufacture of yellow pine., Other industries also contributed to Dayton's development, but it was rice farming and lumbering that put Dayton "on the map.", Captions , Upper Left: Early 1900's , Upper Right: Charles S. Brown Early 1900's , Lower Middle: 1909 Loading operations in the woods of Dayton Lumber Company