The Ragley Lumber Company was built in 1900 at Ragley, Texas, by W. G. Ragley, a sawmiller of northeast Texas. The mill was situated about ten miles from Timpson. Ragley executed a Deed of Trust to F. P. Wilson, of Harrison County, in 1901 on his equipment, lands, and tramways in order to secure operating capital. The lumber company was incorporated on May 29, 1902. Ragley executed a Deed to the Ragley Lumber Company on June 16, 1902, including all Ragley properties, to wit: sawmills planing mills, a shingle mill, kilns, “dwellings and other houses”, etc. The double banded sawmill was housed in a 54-foot by 180-foot building. Cutting capacity was rated at 100,000 board feet per day. A planing mill boiler house fire on August 5, 1903, resulted in a $65,000 loss to the company when the planing building and yards were destroyed by flames. The structures were soon rebuilt, however, but care was taken by building well away from the potentially dangerous boilers.
The firm operated a typical mill town. The races were segregated socially and materially, but problems did occur. (See the accompany commentary for further information.)
In 1910 the sawmill itself burned, and it was replaced with only a single band mill which was constructed to finish the remaining timber around Ragley. The mill was reported “shut down for good” in the July 1912 issue of Southern Industrial and Lumber Review. The Ragley company relocated to Louisiana and other areas in Texas.