D. M. Angle is recorded in a Northwestern Lumberman publication as beginning his sawmill career in New Waverly in 1880. He later would own mills in Trinity and Polk counties.
Angle, although he had sold his equipment five miles north of New Waverly to P. G. Peterson in 1879, is still listed in the 1880 Census owning the sawmill in Subdistrict 155. Either Peterson had forfeited on his loan or Angle had kept a lien on the amount due. The facility was the largest sawmill in Walker County with muley, gang, and circular saws powered by two boilers and two engines. The mill employed forty men at peak production and twenty-five normally, earning $$1.25 to $2.50 daily for eleven-hour shifts. Angle paid out $5,000 total in wages. From $15,000 in supplies and sawlogs, the mill manufactured 2,000,000 feet of lumber, worth more than $55,000. The gross product value indicates that Angle's operation was finishing lumber and doing cabinet, window, and door remanufacturing.