Ellis A. Oualline was reported by The Gulf Coast Lumberman in 1915 to be building a sawmill at Jasper in order to cut timber on land owned by A. C. Ford and the Gibbs heirs of Houston. Palmetto Lumber Company bought the E. A. Oualline sawmill at Jasper in 1918, reported the same trade journal. Palmetto ordered machinery and floor plans that year from Lufkin Foundry & Machine Company. It was Palmetto's only operating mill in 1928.
Although he has the beginning date wrong, Marvin P. Hancock, in “History of City of Jasper, Texas and Folklore,” notes that “the Palmetto Lumber Company, with A. Black as president. . . . operated near the depot and was located across the road from the A. L. Black home on the depot road between the switch track and the creek . . .”.