S. W. Blount had a sawmill in San Augustine County from at least 1859 to the 1870s. The 1860 census records that Blount & Co. sawed 4000 logs at his mill with help of five employees, to whom he paid $135 total in monthly wages. His production value was $10,000 for 1,000,000 board feet. The 1870 census records that Blount had incorporated a grist mill into his milling operations. His lumber milling operation, capitalized at $2,600, produced 384,000 board feet with four employees paid $800 in total wages for eight months, for a production value of $3,840.