Southern Pine Lumber Company Commissary
Diboll, Angelina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The original commissary at this site was constructed about 1894 when T. L. L. Temple (1859 - 1935) started the first Southern Pine Lumber Company sawmill here. The store was moved to the present building when it was completed in 1923. The inventory included groceries, medicine, ice, furniture, dry goods, and coffins. Items were purchased with "company checks," special tokens of metal or wax-coated paper. Managed from 1896 to 1938 by W. P. Rutland, the commissary closed in 1953. The building housed company offices until 1979. (1980)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Southern Pine Lumber Company opened its first sawmill at Diboll around 1894 under T. L. L. Temple, and this commissary served the company town that grew up around it. Moved into its 1923 building, the store sold everything from groceries and medicine to furniture and coffins, with purchases made in company scrip—metal or waxed-paper tokens. It anchored daily life in Diboll until it closed in 1953.
Why it matters
Company commissaries and scrip defined the East Texas lumber economy, where the sawmill owned not just the jobs but the store, the housing, and the town itself.
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Related people
- · T. L. L. Temple
- · W. P. Rutland
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Diboll grew up around a sawmill that T. L. L. Temple established in the East Texas pinelands in 1894, and by 1900 the Southern Pine Lumber Company ran its commissary, post office, churches, homes, and schools. The town took its name from the New Orleans family from whom Temple first bought timber rights. It stayed a company town until the 1950s, when residents were finally offered the chance to own their homes and shops, incorporating in 1962.