DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker in Trinity County tells it, and friend, it's one worth tellin'. Back in 1907, Thompson Brothers Lumber Company came to Trinity and got to work — built a mill and a 37-acre pond, right there on the ground. That's no small undertaking.
Then, in 1912, a separate outfit called Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company got its start over in Willard. By 1922, Texas Long Leaf had bought out Thompson Brothers' Trinity mill, and that's when things really began to move. Under the management of a man named Paul Sanderson — and he held that post for 22 years — the company climbed to become one of the nation's most successful manufacturers of yellow pine and southern hardwoods.
You heard that right. Not just in Texas. The nation.
Sanderson wasn't just cuttin' timber and stackin' boards, either. He was out there working with forest landowners, promoting selected cutting, reforestation, fire protection, removal of defective trees. The man was thinkin' about the forest, not just the lumber yard.
By 1937, the mill was turning out 3.5 million board feet every single month. The species they were cuttin' reads like a roll call of East Texas woods: long leaf pine, short leaf pine, loblolly pine, oak, gum, ash, magnolia, and various others. The main office sat on a 205-acre mill site right there in Trinity, with sales offices reaching out to Houston and St.
Louis. As many as 450 employees worked there — one of Trinity's largest employers, full stop. Then came World War II, and Texas Long Leaf answered the call.
Production climbed to 140,000 board feet daily, and that lumber was flown to Europe and Africa. The company's contribution was recognized with the Army-Navy 'E' Award, presented in a ceremony right in Trinity on March 17, 1944. That's the kind of moment a town remembers.
But the story takes a somber turn. In October of 1944 — just months after that ceremony — Paul Sanderson died, what the marker calls an untimely death. He'd been pushing hard for postwar planning, for a public campaign to carry the Texas timber industry into the future, framing timber as a renewable natural resource.
He held offices at the top of his field: President of the Southern Pine Association, President of the Texas Forest Association, Chairman of the Texas Prison Board. A man with that many irons in the fire, gone before the war even ended. The company carried on.
By 1953, Texas Long Leaf timber interests stretched across 252,230 acres in six East Texas counties. That is a lot of ground. But in 1955, the mill closed — and the marker doesn't mince words about what followed.
It calls the impact on the local economy devastating. A long chapter in the history of Trinity had come to an end. One mill, one pond, one man at the helm for 22 years, 450 jobs, millions of board feet, a war effort, and then silence.
That's the story the marker tells, and now it's one you've heard too.
What the marker says
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.