J. A. Ewing appeared on the county tax roll in 1883 as having $2,500 in manufacturing tools, four horses or mules, and two wagons or buggies for his sawmill trade. No land grant or other location is listed. By 1885, his manufacturing tools were worth $2,000. Either that year or the next he probably moved his mill northwest of Lufkin and built the small community of Ewing. Joseph Kurth would buy the Ewing mill in 1888.
According to Keeling, Ewing & Son operated a small, geared locomotive on the Ewing & Son tram road, probably the first tram locomotive used in the county.