Charles Warner moved his sawmill from Arkansas to its new location between Hawkins and Big Sandy, next to the tracks of the Texas & Pacific. Here he built twenty-two tenant homes for his millworkers and built a tram road north into pineries he owned along Big Sandy Creek. He estimated he could cut three carloads of lumber daily. He was listed in the The Lumberman's Directory of Saw Mills, Shingle Mills and Other Wood Working Factories in the Northwest, South, and Southwest in 1880 as having a sawmill at Hawkins. In fact, he was several miles east of the town.
As he cut out timber reserves close to his mill, Warner prepared to move to a new site some miles due north, just south of Big Sandy Creek. He and his two partners prepared their new company, the Big Sandy Lumber Company, to make the move in 1884. He estimated that the move cost him more than $20,000. He upgraded his property and equipment, replacing the older steam engine with one that could provide 120-horsepower. His new shingle mill cut 5,000 daily. His tram was not used for shipping milled lumber south to the tracks of the Texas & Pacific. Instead, he rafted his cut down the Big Sandy Creek to Big Sandy where the St Louis Southwestern intersected with the Texas & Pacific.
Warner milled as late as 1907. It was listed in the Reference Book of the Lumbermen's Credit Association, January 1907.