The firm of Clark & Kilgore operated a sawmill in Liberty County during the 1850s. Schooners and other craft could access this mill when the river was high. This mill's boiler exploded in 1853, with minimal damage and no human injury or loss of life. The mill was for sale in 1855.
The (Galveston) Weekly News noted on 3 June 1851 that Clark and Kilgore owned a large sawmill located about six miles above the mouth of the Trinity River, placing it near the present-day Wallisville area. The lumber was exported by schooners and small craft, which could get over the bar to Galveston. Cypress, and some pine, was rafted down the Trinity to the mill, where it was sawed into lumber at a price of $20.00 per thousand feet.