Beckham Bros. with T. W. and A. F. Beckham had sawmilling interests in San Augustine that began as early as 1894. Their site at Bland Lake was evidenced by a mortgage in February 1906 to Walter Connally Machine Company for $1,6000 a Fisher & Davis sawmill, a cutoff saw, a gang edger, a sawdust rig, two circular saws, and a steam engine and boiler. Southern Industrial and Lumber Review reported that Beckham Bros were manufacturing 20,000 feet of lumber at their mill in 1906. In July 1907, they mortgaged to the First National Bank of Center for $1,851 the boiler, the engine, and the sawmill at Bland Lake. Either the brothers moved the sawmill to Shelby County , or they continued to cut at Bland Lake.
The brothers also had a small sawmill west of Geneva by September 1906. J. W. and B. L. Richie had mortgaged with Beckham Brothers for the J. W. Lodge sawmill plus the carriage, two head blocks, feed works, and a circular saw and then lost the plant to the brothers.
The brothers in turn either lost their operations or moved out the county, for they disappear from historical records in San Augustine County.
Maxie Martin, an old time resident of San Augustine County, noted in an interview with Vernon L. Beasley that the sawmill town had a boarding house and a commissary. He believed, however, that the mill was located about five miles east of Bland Lake.