Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company
Trinity, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1907, Thompson Brothers Lumber Company built a mill and 37-acre pond at Trinity. Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company, which started at Willard in 1912, bought Thompson Brothers’ Trinity Mill in 1922. Under management of Paul Sanderson for 22 years, the company was one of the nation’s most successful manufacturers of yellow pine and southern hardwoods. Working with forest landowners in Texas, Sanderson promoted selected cutting, reforestation, fire protection and removal of defective trees. By 1937 the mill was producing 3.5 million board feet monthly. The commercial species of lumber cut were long leaf, short leaf, and loblolly pine, oak, gum, ash, magnolia, and various other woods. 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 by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
East Texas rode a river of pine, and few mills ran it better than the Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company, which bought the Thompson Brothers' Trinity mill in 1922. Under Paul Sanderson's 22-year leadership the operation became a national leader in yellow pine and hardwoods, employing as many as 450 people and pioneering selective cutting, reforestation, and fire protection. During World War II the mill cut up to 140,000 board feet a day—lumber that reached Europe and Africa and earned the coveted Army-Navy "E" Award in 1944. The mill's 1955 closure devastated Trinity's economy and closed a defining chapter in the town's life.
Why it matters
The company embodies both the scale of the Southern timber industry and the early rise of American conservation forestry that reshaped how the nation harvested its woods.
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Related people
- · Paul Sanderson
Related events
- · Army-Navy "E" Award
Themes & tags
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