Trinity in Trinity County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company
The main office of Texas Long leaf Lumber Company was the 205 acre mill site in Trinity, with additional sales offices in Houston and St. Louis. The company was one of Trinity's largest employers with as many as 450 employees. During World War II, production reached 140,000 board feet daily, resulting in lumber flown to Europe and Africa and the awarding of the Army-Navy "E” Award in a March 17, 1944, ceremony in Trinity. Sanderson turned to a widespread public campaign for postwar planning and perpetuation of the timber industry in Texas with emphasis on timber as a renewable natural resource. At the time of his untimely death in October 1944, Sanderson held many civic and lumber industry offices, including president of the Southern Pine Association, President of the Texas Forest Association and Chairman of the Texas Prison Board. In 1953, Texas Long Leaf timber interests totaled 252,230 acres in six east Texas counties. The closing of the mill in 1955 had a devastating impact on the local economy and ended a long chapter in the history of the community
Erected 2015 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 18200.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Industry & Commerce • War, World II. A significant historical date for this entry is March 17, 1944.
Location. 30° 57.487′ N, 95° 22.971′ W. Marker is in Trinity, Texas, in Trinity County. Marker is at the intersection of Prospect Drive (State Highway 19) and Pine Valley Drive, on the right when traveling north on Prospect Drive. The marker is located at northeast corner of intersection. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Trinity TX 75862, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies. I.N. Parker House (approx. 0.8 miles away); Jacob Pope and Elizabeth Ann Barnes (approx. 0.8 miles away); Cedar Grove Cemetery (approx. 0.9 miles away); Charles Nesbitt "Charlie" Wilson (approx. 0.9 miles away); First United Methodist Church of Trinity (approx. 0.9 miles away); Dorcas Wills Memorial Baptist Church (approx. 0.9 miles away); Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine Railroad (approx. one mile away); Site of Gibson Hotel (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Trinity.
Also see . . . Lumber Industry. Texas State Historical Association
Lumber has been manufactured in Texas since the early nineteenth century. Records exist of a number of sawmills, both near the Gulf coast and inland, during the two decades before the Texas Revolution. These were sash mills consisting of a single blade held in a frame and powered by water, animals, or eventually steam, laboriously producing crude lumber one board at a time at a rate of 500 to 1,200 board feet a day. In 1829 John Richardson Harris planned what was perhaps the first steam sawmill in Texas, but he died before completing the project. His brothers William Plunket Harris and David Harris, with Robert Wilson, completed the mill, which operated with success at least until 1833. Antonio López de Santa Anna's troops destroyed it in 1836. After the revolution the increasing demand for lumber encouraged the development of sawmills along the Gulf Coast at Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, and Orange. In the interior of the state a number of mills served local needs in Bastrop, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Rusk, and San Augustine counties.(Submitted on September 30, 2022, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 30, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 29, 2022, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 226 times since then and 79 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 30, 2022, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.