Kirby Lumber Company at Woodville, Texas, in 1902; excerpts from American Lumberman magazine.  
 
 
 
 
Source: American Lumberman. "Timber Resources of East Texas, Their Recognition And Development", originally published in American Lumberman November 22, 1902. Chicago: American Lumberman, 1902. pp. 165-173.
 
     
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  Excerpt from "CHAPTER XII., Logging Camps"  
     
 

The detailed operations at the different camps are much on the same basis. The company has at present thirteen logging camps, which cut on an average monthly about as follows:

Camp & Feet Cut
Buna (ships to Beaumont) -- 4,000,000
Trotti (logs Orange mill) -- 3,500,000
Bancroft, La. (logs Orange mill) -- 2,500,000
Kirbyville, Texas Tram (ships Beaumont) -- 2,000,000
Call (at present logging to Call mill) -- 2,000,000
Village (supplies home mill) -- 2,000,000
Silsbee -- 2,000,000
Ariola -- 1,500,000
Mobile -- 1,250,000
Woodville -- 500,000
Roganville -- 1,000,000
Fuqua -- 1,150,0000
Lillard -- 1,000,000

Total, log scale -- 24,400,000

This gives a total of about 24,400,000 feet of logs cut each month, which are furnished the various mills and by them reduced to lumber.

 
     
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  Excerpt from "CHAPTER XXI. Mills M, N, O, and P”:  
     
 

MILL "M", WOODVILLE.
P. A. Doucette, the superintendent of Camp II., is a jolly, open hearted man who knows more about lumber and logging than most people can remember. He is a Canadian by birth and was born at Three Rivers, in the province of Quebec. In 1879 he came to Texas, where he secured employment with Olive & Sternenberg at Olive. He stayed with this firm for some time and then built the mill at Doucette, Tex., a small station on the Texas & New Orleans just north of Woodville. In the early part of 1899 he sold this mill and built the present mill at Woodville, which, in company with L. J. Chapman, he continued to operate until it was transferred to the Kirby interests. Mr. Doucette was then tendered the position of superintendent of the Woodville logging camp, which he accepted and still holds.

Mr. Doucette is assisted in the management of the office by Tom F. Cruse, a west Texas young man who went east to engage in the lumber industry. His first position was with the Kirby Lumber Company at Beaumont, where he remained for a short time, and he was then transferred to Woodville. He is general factotum around the office.

The mill formerly operated at this point was a single circular affair, with an average capacity of about 20,000 feet. It was constructed in January, 1900, but was not ready for operation until March, 1900. It was then run steadily until September, 1901, when it was shut down pending the negotiations with the Kirby Lumber Company, but was again set in motion in October of the same year.

The mill was logged by a tram road, which extends about three miles to the northeast and directly east of the Texas and New Orleans road. It was equipped with one single circular saw; a 2-saw trimmer; edger with four saws and a cut-off saw. The timber lands at this point are exceptionally fine and there is no break in the forest from Woodville to Kirbyville, a distance of thirty miles east. The mill was used mainly to cut ties and the sides was utilized in making yard stocks, which were shipped as fast as a sufficient amount was accumulated.

The commissary located here does an average business of $3,500 a month, and this result is accomplished in the face of competition from the other mercantile establishments at Woodville. The checks issued by the company are received by the other stores and are in turn traded out by them at the commissary.

The company's pay roll at this point had the names of about sixty men on it and included those in the mill, logging camp and commissary departments. There was only one locomotive used in hauling logs to the saw. The mill was not supplied with a log pond, the water being furnished the engines from a tank filled from a neighboring creek or, when this failed, from a well bored for the purpose.

One of the new mills will be located here, as the former plant is not deemed capable of cutting the immense amount of timber lying to the north and east of the plant. It is now nearly ready for operation.

Woodville is a village of about 1,000 inhabitants and is the county seat of Tyler county. It is not incorporated. The village is entirely surrounded with pine timber, which stretches to the west a distance of eighteen miles, and the area to the north, east and south is also grown up in pine trees.

Mr. Kirby began his professional life at this point. He studied law in the offices of Congressman Cooper, and later became associated with the present District Judge Nix. The old office still remains and a picture is given herewith. It was in this sylvan town that Mr. Kirby wooed and won his wife, and here also they experienced the first delights of housekeeping in the prettily embowered cottage of which a picture is here shown.

 
   
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Text and images were digitized and proofread from the original source documents by Murry Hammond. Contact Murry for all corrections and contributions of new material.