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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. In the 1850s, steam mills were
initiated. Pre-1861 mill firms included Phillips, Ross & Alexander,
Otto Ruff, and A. J. Ward. When post Civil War years (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.
Marker is located at 700 Pearl St.
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