There's something about visiting Angelina's sawmill at Keltys that brings back thoughts of how, over fifty years ago, there was at that very spot the first mill of the now great, far-reaching lumber organization that is Angelina County Lumber Company. Because it was on this mill site that the late J. H. Kurth and S. W. Henderson began with a very small sawmill in 1887, to be joined two years later by Sam Wiener, Jr., now residing in Shreveport, La.

The success of this triad of famous lumbermen is now history. The results of their undertakings and those of their sons who followed after them is today's Angelina County Lumber Company an organization which operates five large sawmills, a flooring plant, and has endless acres of the finest Texas pine and hardwoods. And, although the original Angelina County Lumber Company, like the very trees from which it takes its lumber, has branched out through the acquisition of many lumber manufacturing companies and other ventures, general headquarters, and home base is still in the sawmill town of Keltys.

In Angelina's policy of keeping their sawmill equipment modern and up-to-the-minute, their big Keltys mill is no exception. For the past nine months they have been modernizing the present mill, and have added a new storage shed and loading dock. The most important addition in the modernization is a new band mill just recently installed. This nine-foot band mill along with a circular saw produces 12,500 feet of lumber per hour.

From the mill green lumber moves on long transfer cables to the green take-off shed which is some three blocks distant from the mill. Five modern double-tracked dry kilns dry all of the one-inch and two-inch stock and small timbers. Each is equipped with the Welch system of recording instruments to control heat and humidity. There is ample kiln capacity for the entire cut of the Keltys mill. After drying, the lumber is placed in Angelina's four acres of rough shed space.

The planing mill is modernly equipped throughout. Its high-speed sizers, matchers, moulders, hum mightily and loud. And the lumber that comes out of the finished ends of these machines is beautiful to behold. The roof of the planer extends out over the loading dock so finished stock can be loaded without being exposed to the weather.

Two large storage sheds hold the dressed stock that is not shipped immediately. Angelina has just completed a new dry shed, which replaces one of their old ones. It is built much larger due to a growing need for additional dry lumber storage room. The new shed is a double decker, particularly arranged for facilitating the handling of their dressed stock and has a capacity of over half a million feet.

The logging crew for the Keltys mill is now logging timber in Polk County. Virgin pine logs are transported by the company-owned equipment by rail over the Southern Pacific to Dunagan, thence over the company's Angelina & Neches River Railroad to Keltys. Logging in the woods is done largely with teams and trucks. The present scene of logging activities is about 42 miles from Keltys.

The Keltys mill is strictly a pine operation. Hardwoods are produced by the company's mill at Ewing and their flooring plant at Dallas. The pond at Keltys is filled with beautiful virgin Short Leaf logs, which are brought in both by tram and log trucks.

Starting back in '87 with their first mill, Angelina built a new mill at Keltys in 1891 with a much increased capacity. It cut about 35,000 feet daily. Such was the growth of this young Texas company that the new mill soon became inadequate. A few years later the mill was rebuilt to include a circular and Dixie saw. This increased the capacity to between 75,000 and 80,000 feet daily.

All went well at Angelina for many years. Then in 1906 a fire blazed forth one morning and totally destroyed the sawmill before the flames could be put under control. Undiscouraged, the officers built back a double mill equipped with band and circular saws and having an increased capacity of 3,000,000 feet per month. It is this mill that now produces Angelina stock at Keltys with countless additions and improvements which have been added during the ensuing thirty-three years.

Today the president of Angelina County Lumber Company is Eli Wiener, of Dallas, Texas, son of the late Sam Wiener. Vice-president and general manager is E. L. Kurth, Sr.,; second vice president is J. H. Kurth, Jr.; both sons of the late J. H. Kurth. S. W. Henderson, Jr., son of the late S. W. Henderson, is third vice president. D. W. Thompson is secretary and treasurer, and his assistant is E. L. Kurth, Jr.

Both pine and hardwood sales for all of Angelina's five mills are handled through the central offices at Keltys. Here also are headquarters for the Angelina & Neches River Railroad and the land and timber department. With the slogan, "Sudden Service," Angelina County Lumber Company has stressed the important idea that when lumber dealers buy from them they can get the production of five large modern mills with the convenience of dealing with one.