Beaumont: Lumber Mill City of the Nineteenth Century

Beaumont, situated in forests, was a timber town at birth, and marked this site "Steam Mill Square" on its original plat. By 1840, Lucien Hopson had a saw pit on a canal to the south, floating in logs and floating out lumber. Hand-powered shingle and sash mills were soon operating. In the 1850s, steam mills were initiated. Pre-1861 mill firms included Phillips, Ross & Alexander, Otto Ruff, and A. J. Ward. After the Civil War (1861-65) brought ruin, the mills helped the city recover. Bremer Lumber, Goldsmith & Reagan, Long & Long, and Pipkin & Haltom were operating by 1870. Beaumont Lumber Company, Olive & Sternenberg, Reliance, and the Smyth Brothers (Eagle Mill) were here by 1877. Later came Adams & Milmo, Globe Planing Mill, Industrial Lumber, Miller Vidor Lumber, Neches Lumber, the Southern Land & Lumber Company, and Texas Tram & Lumber Company. About 1900, tycoon John Henry Kirby bought several of the Beaumont mills. By the 1920s nearby forests were depleted. Log-floating on the Neches gave way to hauling by railroad, and the city mills were phased out in favor of mills in the woods.

Beaumont: Lumber Mill City of the Nineteenth Century is a historical marker in Beaumont, Jefferson County, dedicated in 1977. It is one of 109 historical markers documented in Jefferson County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 137 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.0821, -94.0931 near Beaumont. The nearest cataloged historic site is Beaumont (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Millard, Henry, Tyrrell Public Library, and Port of Beaumont.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5245010496. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.