Delta Land and Timber Company
by Robin Montgomery
The coming of the railroads to Montgomery County in the late 19th century set the stage for the rise of a lumber industry of national-class proportions. At the center of this lumber boom was Conroe. In the 1870s, the International and Great Northern Railway gave rise to Willis, while in the 1880s stretching from west to east across the county was the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe. These lines intersected at a place first called Conroe’s Switch, then Conroe. Entering the 20th century the greater Conroe area supported five steam-powered saw and planing mills. But one of the greatest of all was yet to come, the Delta Land and Timber Company.
The Delta Land and Timber Company spun off the largest sawmill under one roof west of the Mississippi River. Built in 1901, this parent mill was located some 28 miles west of Lufkin and soon amassed 170,000 acres of pine timber. The two-story sawmill building was 175 feet wide by 486 feet long while the planing mill building was 150 feet wide by 450 feet long. The immensity of the buildings created a double problem.
The interiors of the buildings even in daytime were so dark that artificial light was needed all day and in summer the heat was nearly unbearable.
The owner of this huge mill was the Central Coal and Coke Company of Kansas, sometimes referred to simply as the “4-C”. By 1900, “4-C” owned six sawmills, 48 coal mines, 150 miles of railroads and employed some 10,000 persons.
By 1914, “4-C” was in the process of transferring machinery to Conroe for the new Delta Land and Timber Company. Some 500 “4-C” mill employees were in the process of re-location to the Conroe base of operations. Vast for its time, the Conroe plant cost over $500,000 to build and came to employ 700 men.
“4-C”owned some 90,000 acres of virgin forest land north of Montgomery. Featured in the Delta Land Timber Company Mill were steam dry kilns, monorails, band saws, and a mill pond. Workers negotiated
a full-gauge railroad to the timber. The main harvesting area was large enough to be called Camp Letcher.
The Delta Land and Timber Company had a great run for two decades, built on the strength of the railroads, a good source of artesian water and nearness to Houston. However, deforestation set in, along with the rise of the Great Depression leading the “4-C” owners to cut out the timber portion of their business. In 1939, under the name of the Conroe Lumber Corporation, the enterprise was sold to J.S. Hunt. Most of the mill machinery was sold or moved to other mills.
But the Delta Land and Timber Company had made its mark on the history of Conroe, and the United
States.
The coming of the railroads to Montgomery County in the late 19th century set the stage for the rise of a lumber industry of national-class proportions. At the center of this lumber boom was Conroe. In the 1870s, the International and Great Northern Railway gave rise to Willis, while in the 1880s stretching from west to east across the county was the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe. These lines intersected at a place first called Conroe’s Switch, then Conroe. Entering the 20th century the greater Conroe area supported five steam-powered saw and planing mills. But one of the greatest of all was yet to come, the Delta Land and Timber Company.
The Delta Land and Timber Company spun off the largest sawmill under one roof west of the Mississippi River. Built in 1901, this parent mill was located some 28 miles west of Lufkin and soon amassed 170,000 acres of pine timber. The two-story sawmill building was 175 feet wide by 486 feet long while the planing mill building was 150 feet wide by 450 feet long. The immensity of the buildings created a double problem.
The interiors of the buildings even in daytime were so dark that artificial light was needed all day and in summer the heat was nearly unbearable.
The owner of this huge mill was the Central Coal and Coke Company of Kansas, sometimes referred to simply as the “4-C”. By 1900, “4-C” owned six sawmills, 48 coal mines, 150 miles of railroads and employed some 10,000 persons.
By 1914, “4-C” was in the process of transferring machinery to Conroe for the new Delta Land and Timber Company. Some 500 “4-C” mill employees were in the process of re-location to the Conroe base of operations. Vast for its time, the Conroe plant cost over $500,000 to build and came to employ 700 men.
“4-C”owned some 90,000 acres of virgin forest land north of Montgomery. Featured in the Delta Land Timber Company Mill were steam dry kilns, monorails, band saws, and a mill pond. Workers negotiated
a full-gauge railroad to the timber. The main harvesting area was large enough to be called Camp Letcher.
The Delta Land and Timber Company had a great run for two decades, built on the strength of the railroads, a good source of artesian water and nearness to Houston. However, deforestation set in, along with the rise of the Great Depression leading the “4-C” owners to cut out the timber portion of their business. In 1939, under the name of the Conroe Lumber Corporation, the enterprise was sold to J.S. Hunt. Most of the mill machinery was sold or moved to other mills.
But the Delta Land and Timber Company had made its mark on the history of Conroe, and the United
States.
