Sawmill |
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C. R. Cummings Lumber Company |
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| Corporate Name: C. R. Cummings Lumber Company (Cummings Brothers Lumber Company) Local Name: Owner/Company Affiliation: Charles R. and Jesse N. Cummings Location: On the shore of the bay near Anahuac County: Chambers Comment on Periods of Operation: 1890s Capacity Comments: 50,000 feet daily Type of Mill: Hardwood lumber for the German export trade Power Source: Steam Equipment: A single circular sawmill Mill Pond: No City/Town: Anahuac Company Town?: Yes Size of Company Town at Peak: Unknown Associated Railroads: Exported production via the Trinity River and Galveston Bay Historical Development: The Cummings sawmills at Anahuac and Liberty cut hardwoods (oak, ash, gum, cottonwood, hickory) for the export trade to Germany. The Cummings owned a shipyard at Wallisville that built tugs and ships, which exported their products. Jesse Cummings sold his interests to German businessmen. The company bought the Horatio, the old steamboat used by C N. Fisher, and quickly made it the flagship of its own fleet. Before the consolidation of the Liberty and Anahuac mills at Wallisville, Cummings supplied both towns with a "floating" commissary on a barge that plied back and forth along the Trinity. At Anahuac, Cummings built a wharf into the Trinity for shipping. Eventually both mills were consolidated at Wallisville. The reason for the Anahuac's mill's removal was that the amount of log storage in the area was insufficient. The great storm of 1897, that destroyed mills at Liberty and Devers, helped the rationale for the move. Comments: Data Sheet: M. Johnson Date Prepared: MCJ 04-02-96 Bibliography: W. T. Block. "Mill Towns and Ghost Towns of East Texas: Some Early Sawmills, Tram Roads, and Logging Camps of Liberty County, Texas." Unpublished manuscripts. Chambers County Deeds Record. Vol G: W. D. And C. Wilcox to J. N. Cummings of Ft. Smith, Arkansas, August 19, 1893, 429-430. Corps of Engineers. Cultural Resources Evaluation of . . . The Cummings Lumber Mill etc. Baton Rouge: July 1985. (Liberty) Vindicator. September 1, 1893. January 10, 1896. September 17, 1897. July 31, 1903. J. S. Harry. The History of Chambers County, Texas. Dallas, 1981. 141. (Beaumont) Journal. November 13, 1904. (Wallisville) Age. December 22, 1897. July 27, 1898. October 5, 1898. ______. "Chambers County," July 4, 1896; "Liberty County." (Galveston) Daily News, April 10, 1897. September 15, 1897. Alpha: CH Number: 5 Years of Operation: Start: 1890 Years of Operation: End: 1898 Years of Operation: Number: Years of Operation: Decades: 1890-1899 Capacity: 50000: 1895 Company Owned Tram?: Mill Type : Hardwood Sawmill Power : Steam Production : Rough Lumber Commentary: Commentary Date: |
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