Frank Powell operated a sawmill in Houston County during the enumeration period of the Census of 1880. The mill was capitalized at $4,000. Work required eight male employees, three of whom were children under the age of sixteen. Powell paid his workers seventy-five cents per each eight-hour day in the winter and ten-hour day in the summer, spending $1000 total in wages during the twelve months of mill operations. The power plant consisted of a twenty-five horsepower steam engine with a boiler. Cutting equipment included a circular saw and two shingle band saws. From raw materials and mill supplies worth $3,300, Powell's mill produced 600,000 feet of lumber and 1,500,00 for a gross value of $6000. Powell did his own logging near the mill.