Felix A. Talley & Co
This company was originally owned by Felix A. Talley, D. C. Tharp, and Banks Griffith. F. A. Talley & Co sold all its lumber, on February 1, 1901, to Trinity River Lumber Company. Prices were $4 per 1,000 feet for stacked; $5.50 to 6.50 per 1,000 feet for rough lumber; $6.60 to 7.50 per 1,000 feet for rough green clears; and $6.50 to $8.25 per 1,000 for dressed lumber. It recontracted later to sell all of its lumber from the Keenan mill (January 1 to December 31, 1902) for the following: $7.75 to $8.75 per 1,000 feet for rough green clears and $7.50 to $9.25 for dressed lumber.
On January 8, 1903, F. A. Talley & Co contracted its total mill output from January 1, 1903, to December 31, 1903, to C. M. Campbell & Sons of Temple (C M Campbell, W C Campbell, T T Campbell, Roy B Campbell, and A. F. Sharpe) for rough clears ($7.25 per 1.000 feet) and No. 2 ($5.50 per 1,000 feet). Campbell agreed to move all lumber by March 1, 1904. Talley gained control and organized the F. A. Talley & Company to run the Keenan operation. According to the January 1905 and 1907 Reference Book of the Lumbermen's Credit Association, F.A. Talley and Company was at Conroe. The mill did well until it was destroyed by fire in 1911. Talley turned to Banks Griffith for assistance in 1912 and secured a loan for more than $5,500. But in 1915 Talley defaulted, and the estate of Banks Griffith & Son acquired the facility at a sheriff's sale for $5,000.
The equipment in 1915 included the sawmill, the planing mill, twelve miles of tram track, a 32-ton Shay engine, a 20-ton Shay engine, and 26 log cars.
Mill Details
Alpha Numeric Key:
MO
Owner Name
In 1903, this was a Foster Lumber Company contract mill. C. M. Campbell and Sons, Keenan, controlled output in 1904. Felix Talley, D. C. Tharp, and Banks Griffith
Location
Four miles west of Conroe
County
Montgomery
Years in Operation:
16
Start Year:
1900
End Year:
1915
Decades:
1900-1909,1910-1919
Period of Operation:
1900 to 1915
Town:
Keenan
Company Town:
1
Peak Town Size:
172 in 1905
Mill Pond:
2
