Several issues of the Liberty Vindicator notes that a sawmill operated unsuccessfully for a few years between 1889 and 1893 on the Trinity River, close by to Liberty.
An issue of December 16, 1887, asked if something could be done about “That mill up at the rivercan't something be done to start it up and going?” In January, 1889, the paper carried an announcement that the Buford, Boyd & Hart mill was “prepared to saw bills of lumber for any body and in any quantity.” Although the owners were willing to pay cash for sawlogs, they mill did not prosper. In August, 1893, an editorial propounded, “What is the matter with the mill at the river? Why is it that it is not kept running? These questions are frequently asked by parties who wish to get lumber, but no one, it seems, can give a satisfactory answer.”