A record of S. Liken's sawmill at Dever's Woods, Liberty County, appeared in the Northwestern Lumberman's 1880 published directory of Southern sawmills. The plant grew from a sawmill to an operation that included a planing mill and a grist mill. Liken died shortly before his mill was destroyed by the great hurricane of September 13, 1897. It is uncertain if the mill was rebuilt.
The Manuscript Census of 1880, reporting for June 1, 1879 to May 31, 1880, detailed the business operations of the sawmill. The sawmill, d a capital value of $3,000, worked twelve men at peak,and ten normally. The employees received daily wages of $1.25 to $3.00 for ten-hours days during the winter and twelve hour days during the summer. Likens paid a total wage of $2,500. From a total value of $8,536 of supplies and sawlogs, the sawmill manufactured 1,675,000 feet of lumber, valued at a gross worth of $15,000. The mill operated eight months full time of the twelve months of the reporting period.