Old Diboll Library
Diboll, Angelina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built about 1908 by T. L. L. Temple for his Southern Pine Lumber Company employees, this building served for many years as a community library and recreation hall. While the lower floor included a reading room and recreational facilities, the upper floor contained living quarters used at various times by the Temple family, single male employees, and schoolteachers. The building was used as a Red Cross sewing room during World War I and as a food distribution point for needy families during the Depression. It later served as a residence and office. (1990)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Around 1908, lumber magnate T. L. L. Temple built this hall for the workers of his Southern Pine Lumber Company, pairing a downstairs reading room and recreation space with upstairs living quarters for family, single men, and schoolteachers. Over the decades it doubled as a Red Cross sewing room during World War I and a food distribution point for struggling families during the Depression. It is a rare survivor of the company-town institutions that once organized life in East Texas.
Why it matters
The building illustrates the paternalistic company towns of the timber boom, where a single industry supplied not just jobs but the schools, libraries, and social welfare of an entire community.
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Related people
- · T. L. L. Temple
Themes & tags
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