George Eldridge Singletary (1862 to 1942) lived at Alto; he made a living for forty years as a sawmiller, a ginner, and a farmer. Singletary's father died in 1882 and the son took over the family cotton gin at Bowles Creek. In 1886, he married Margaret Holcomb, which began a Singletary-Holcomb lumber interest for two generations. Moving his mill from Wire Creek to Singletary Switch, George E. Singletary operated a steam-powered sawmill and planer four miles south of Alto on the Cotton Belt from 1900 to 1910. He manufactured rough and finished lumber. He had a school for the children and operated a commissary. Company tokens could be returned at the company store for supplies. Singletary built a house in Alto with lumber made at the mill.
The Census of 1900 enumerated more than twenty houses, which appeared to be tenant housing for the Singletary mill at Singletary Switch (Precinct 2, residences 45-60). G. E. Singletary, “sawmill owner”, lived at residence 65. The twenty-six mill laborers were all white.