G. E. Singletary's crate manufacturing business in Alto appeared in the January 1905 published records of the Lumbermen's Credit Association. Singletary had taken on a partner by the end of 1906, for the firm of Singletary & Spears was listed in the credit firm's published records in January 1907.
Singletary & Spears sold the mill to Garrett Holcomb, who later sold it to S. P. Fox. This rotary veneer mill was producing gum veneer for crates at Alto in 1928. During Fox's time, the crate factory was part of a larger operation that included a cotton gin, and a sawmill three miles west of Alto.
The Alto Gin & Crate Company bought from J. C. Van Ordern for $226 a total of 18,832 feet in 1,500 sawlogs cut on the Van Order's land on the S. A. Duncan survey, Alto, Texas.