Pete Doucette, a Canadian, and William McCready built the Nebraska Lumber Company sawmill at Doucette sometime before April 1893, and the Nebraska Lumber Company was incorporated on June 12 that year. An unofficial manuscript asserts that Doucette bought Alva Carroll's sawmill. The Galveston Daily News reported in 1897 that the Doucette plant was “'the only mill in Texas that can boast of a lady secretary and treasurer, Mrs. A.L. Doucette filling that position.”
The town was originally called Carroll, but was changed to Doucette when the post office was established later the same year. The company met many difficulties at Doucette, and the business venture was short-lived. The town had no mill pond, and scarcity of water resulted in the mill closing down on at least one occasion. Logging problems also existed, due to the hilly nature of the area. By September 1897, however, prospects began to improve. The mill's capacity was increased, waterworks were established, getting water from nearby springs, and a new locomotive was making the logging proposition manageable. But just when tram roads were extended into “new pineries” disaster struck. The mill was almost completely destroyed by fire in October 1897, consuming the mill, planer, and most of the sawed lumber. The company had no insurance coverage, and consequently failed. The corporation was dissolved on May 20, 1898. Doucette ended his partnership with McCready at Doucette, and soon established another milling business at Woodville with L.J. Chapman in 1899.