The R. O. Lovelady opened its plant at Center in 1946 reported The Jacksonville Journal. Earlier, Lovelady milled lumber at Jerico on Highway 711 from 1931 to 1946. He also had a cotton gin operation at Patroon, which had been functioning since 1923.
H. C. Goodwyn supervised the plant's thirty male workers. Logging was done on Lovelady stumpage totaling three million standing feet of lumber.
R. O. Lovelady Lumber Company was listed in the Directory of Texas Manufacturers, 1956-1958. Established in 1945, the firm produced rough lumber with about twenty-five workers.