Nameless Towns: Texas Sawmill Communities, 1880-1942

by Thad Sitton, James H. Conrad

Overview

Winner, T. H. Fehrenbach Award, Texas Historical Commission

Sawmill communities were once the thriving centers of East Texas life. Many sprang up almost overnight in a pine forest clearing, and many disappeared just as quickly after the company "cut out" its last trees. But during their heyday, these company towns made Texas the nation's third-largest lumber producer and created a colorful way of life that lingers in the memories of the remaining former residents and their children and grandchildren.

Drawing on oral history, company records, and other archival sources, Sitton and Conrad recreate the lifeways of the sawmill communities. They describe the companies that ran the mills and the different kinds of jobs involved in logging and milling. They depict the usually rough-hewn towns, with their central mill, unpainted houses, company store, and schools, churches, and community centers. And they characterize the lives of the people, from the hard, awesomely dangerous mill work to the dances, picnics, and other recreations that offered welcome diversions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292777262
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	07/01/1998
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	271
Sales rank:	1,166,193
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Thad Sitton, of Austin, and James H. Conrad, of Commerce, are historians and writers with extensive experience in collecting oral history.

Table of Contents

• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Chapter One. Introduction
• Chapter Two. Panoramas
• Chapter Three. Feudal Towns
• Chapter Four. The Cornbread Whistle
• Chapter Five. Dancing on the Millpond
• Chapter Six. Cut and Get Out
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

What People are Saying About This

Robert L. Schaadt

After completing the book, I truly understood life in the sawmill communities, intellectually and emotionally. It was very satisfying. Conrad and Sitton write in such a manner to make one feel the hard life, smell the sawdust, and share the danger of the mills. The book is compelling and stimulating.
— Robert L. Schaadt, Director-Archivist, Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center

Editorial Reviews

A social history of the ephemeral communities in East Texas, often company towns, during a period of cut-and-run logging. Draws on oral histories, written memoirs, and company records to emphasize what life was like and particularly people's experience of the economic conditions. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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