Texas & Ohio Lumber Company tram road at Applegate
The history of the Ohio & Texas Lumber Company tram road is even more sketchy than that of its parent company. The history and origin of this mill site is controversial. Dr. W.E. Trotti, who during the 1890’s had owned sawmills in Tyler County and elsewhere, built a small sawmill about three miles north of Roganville on the Santa Fe railroad around 1900. The name of the company was apparently the Trotti Hardwood Company. It is possible, however, that the mill was operated by a partnership known as the Powell brothers, since a Santa Fe circular for 1904 lists no Trotti mill on its Beaumont lines and no mill(s) located at a town called Applegate. The circular does, however, list the Powell brothers as operating a 30,000 �Oak Lumber� mill, �located three and a half miles north of Rogan.�
Whatever the case, the Trotti mill, noted by a newspaper to be three miles from Roganville, was sold to H.D. Applegate and W.W. Wilson in January 1905, and this is probably when the town’s name of Applegate was established. The new ownership (Willson, Applegate, & Trotti) increased the mill’s capacity to around 50,000, and operated perhaps under the names of Applegate Lumber Company and/or Jasper Lumber Company. On May 4, 1908 the business was reorganized as the Texas & Ohio Lumber Company which was dissolved on April 6, 1909, resulting in the company’s abandoning the mill site and liquidating its assets.
The J.F. Keith Company acquired the lands of the bankrupt company. While it is possible that the community or town of Applegate became Keithton after 1912, it should be mentioned that both the towns, Keithton and Applegate, appear on railroad maps for the years of 1911 and 1912. Keithton was about three miles north of Applegate. The Trotti mill employed perhaps as many as 150 men under the Applegate-Wilson ownership.
The Texas & Ohio Lumber Company paid a total of $383.23 in taxes in 1908 on property rendered at a value of $43,400. The company also rendered taxes on two and a half miles of tram road that year. It was not carried on the tax rolls for 1909.
Code
127
Corporate Name:
Corporate Name:
Folk Name:
Incorporated:
Ownership:
Texas & Ohio Lumber Company
Years of Operation:
ca. 1900 to ca. 1912
Track Type:
Track Type:
Track Length:
Locations Served:
At least two and a half miles in Jasper County in 1908
Counties of Operation:
Line Connections:
Line Connections:
Track Information:
Track Information:
Equipment:
History:
The history of the Ohio & Texas Lumber Company tram road is even more sketchy than that of its parent company. The history and origin of this mill site is controversial. Dr. W.E. Trotti, who during the 1890’s had owned sawmills in Tyler County and elsewhere, built a small sawmill about three miles north of Roganville on the Santa Fe railroad around 1900. The name of the company was apparently the Trotti Hardwood Company. It is possible, however, that the mill was operated by a partnership known as the Powell brothers, since a Santa Fe circular for 1904 lists no Trotti mill on its Beaumont lines and no mill(s) located at a town called Applegate. The circular does, however, list the Powell brothers as operating a 30,000 �Oak Lumber� mill, �located three and a half miles north of Rogan.�
Whatever the case, the Trotti mill, noted by a newspaper to be three miles from Roganville, was sold to H.D. Applegate and W.W. Wilson in January 1905, and this is probably when the town’s name of Applegate was established. The new ownership (Willson, Applegate, & Trotti) increased the mill’s capacity to around 50,000, and operated perhaps under the names of Applegate Lumber Company and/or Jasper Lumber Company. On May 4, 1908 the business was reorganized as the Texas & Ohio Lumber Company which was dissolved on April 6, 1909, resulting in the company’s abandoning the mill site and liquidating its assets.
The J.F. Keith Company acquired the lands of the bankrupt company. While it is possible that the community or town of Applegate became Keithton after 1912, it should be mentioned that both the towns, Keithton and Applegate, appear on railroad maps for the years of 1911 and 1912. Keithton was about three miles north of Applegate. The Trotti mill employed perhaps as many as 150 men under the Applegate-Wilson ownership.
The Texas & Ohio Lumber Company paid a total of $383.23 in taxes in 1908 on property rendered at a value of $43,400. The company also rendered taxes on two and a half miles of tram road that year. It was not carried on the tax rolls for 1909.