The W. S. Rush sawmill was listed in an 1880 Chicago lumberman directory but not in an 1884 railroad listing.
The Manuscript Census of 1880, reporting for June 1, 1879 to May 31, 1880, detailed the business operations of the sawmill. The sawmill, d a capital value of $2.50, employed twelve men, one child, and one woman. The employees received daily wages of $1.25 to $1.50 for nine hour days in the winters and eleven hour days in the summer. Rush paid a total wage of $3,000. From a total value of $8,000 of supplies and sawlogs, the sawmill manufactured 1,500,00 feet of lumber, worth a gross value of $15,000.
The sawmill worked nine of the twelve months during the reporting period.
Harrison County, Texas, Caucasian Residents in 1880 lists W. S. Rust, living at Hallsville, as a “lumber mfgr.”