L. A. Latch was cutting 20,000 feet daily at Big Sandy in 1893, according to a Galveston newspaper. The Latch mill was located some miles northeast of Shady Grove during the 1890s and early 1900s. Lark Carrington operated the complex after Latch.
Latch was partners with C. J. Chronister during the 1890s. He gave a deed of trust to Chronister on 26 August 1895. Equipment transferred included the sawmill, a 42-inch by 14-foot boiler of 40-horsepower, an 11-inch by 18-inch 35-horsepower steam engine, a steam pump, a 3-saw Kentucky gang edger, a Hoyt Bros No. 14 planer with an Atlas 12-inch by 14-inch steam engine and 28-foot steamboat boiler, eight horses and mules, twenty-six work oxen, two Espenschied wagons, and fifty hogs.
The boiler and engine were manufactured by the state penitentiary at Huntsville.