DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this stretch of the Sabine River has been working hard longer than most towns in Texas have even existed. We're talking about Bon Wier, Newton County — and the story starts before there was a town, before there was a railroad, before there was even a name on the map.
It starts with a man named W. H. Stark, who showed up here in 1836 and decided the Sabine River was worth something.
He wasn't wrong. Stark established a ferry and warehouse business right on that river — Stark's Landing, they called it — and it served as a wharf for steamboats. Big timber came through here too, rafted downriver to sawmills.
This was a working place. Quiet, maybe, but working. Then, in 1898, a man named T.
J. Trotti established a company logging town nearby, and the gears really started turning. The Trotti Sawmill got its reach extended in 1905 when the Jasper and Eastern Railroad pushed track right through here.
You lay down rail and things start to happen fast — that's just the way of it. Also in 1905, T. A.
Campbell opened a general store that would go on to serve as the unofficial town center for decades. Not the post office, not the mayor's office — just a general store, doing the quiet work of holding a community together. Now, here's where the town gets its name.
In 1906, the Santa Fe Townsite Company platted a proper town here and called it Bon Wier — named for two Kirby Lumber Company officials: B. F. Bonner and R.
W. Wier. Part of one name, part of another.
A town stitched together from two men's surnames, sitting on a river that had been stitching things together since 1836. A post office followed in 1907, which is the kind of thing that tells you a place has arrived. Then, about 1912, a man named T.
M. Hughes built a sizeable sawmill, and that wasn't just a mill — that was the beginning of a Hughes family lumber business that, according to this marker, continues to this day. Some roots go deep.
The Sabine River Bridge was completed in 1931, connecting things further. A number of mills established along that river, in or near Bon Wier, helped keep the town's economy breathing. For a good long while, Bon Wier had several stores and its own school system — right up until 1956.
The lumber trade kept humming, and today, the marker tells us, Bon Wier is supported by a thriving farm, market, and commercial river economy. Started with one man and a ferry in 1836. Still standing.
On the Sabine. That river never did stop working, and neither did this town.
What the marker says
W. H. Stark settled here in 1836 and established a ferry and warehouse business on the Sabine River known as Stark's Landing. It served as a wharf for steamboats and a point from which large quantities of timber were rafted to sawmills downriver. Development in this area began after T. J. Trotti established a company logging town nearby in 1898. The Trotti Sawmill gained access to the railroad when the Jasper and Eastern Railroad extended track through here in 1905. The Santa Fe Townsite Company platted a town here in 1906 named Bon Wier for Kirby Lumber Company officials B. F. Bonner and R. W. Wier. T. A. Campbell's General Store, established in 1905, served as an unofficial town center for decades. Bon Wier was granted a post office in 1907. About 1912 T. M. Hughes built a sizeable sawmill which began a Hughes family lumber business which continues today. Bon Wier's Sabine River Bridge was completed in 1931. A number of mills, established along the Sabine River in or near Bon Wier, helped to sustain the town's economy. Bon Wier boasted several stores and its own school system until 1956. Although lumber activity continues in the area, Bon Wier is supported by a thriving farm, market, and commercial river economy.