Traylor Russell wrote a brief history of Titus County. He noted that the Sullivan-Sanford of Cincinnati, Ohio, began building a mill at Naples in 1905. It was running the following year. The mill employed 500 workers in the woods, on the trams, and at the mill. The company, according to the American Lumberman in 1906, was going to build twenty miles of tram road. In 1906 and 1907, the company bought right of way rights for its tram road through Morris County from S. A. Starwell, C. A. Reeves, and A. A. Grabb. Sullivan & Sanford were listed in the 1907 Reference Book of the Lumbermen's Credit Association as hardwood manufacturers at Naples. M. H. Sullivan of Florida was one of the owners of the corporation. He received $127,694.25 in return for his lands in Morris and Titus counties in 1906. They may have bought out Shaddi or Gallaway of Naples, who had been sawmilling there in 1905 but not in 1907. The Corn Exchange National Bank of Chicago won suit against Sullivan-Sanford for more than $31,000 in 1908. Bankruptcy shut down operations for good in 1912.
Webb reported that the community of Naples, settled in 1879, was known as Belden until 1898. Located in the northeastern part of the county, Naples long served as a shipping station on the Cotton Belt.