Back in 1916, the Delta Land & Timber Company launched a major logging operation covering 90,000 acres of virgin timber in and around an area now known as the Sam Houston National Forest

While much of America struggles with economic woes, Montgomery County is one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation. It’s not the first time this community was at the forefront of prosperity and opportunity.
 

Back in 1916, the Delta Land & Timber Company launched a major logging operation covering 90,000 acres of virgin timber in and around an area now known as the Sam Houston National Forest.
 

“There were many logging operations in the south in the late 19th and early 20th century,” said Larry Foerster, chairman of the Montgomery County Historical Society. “But the DLTC operation was one of the biggest during its time in operation.”

The operation, a division of the Central Coal & Coke Company out of Kansas City, Mo., employed more than 700 workers on day and night shifts with a monthly payroll in excess of $30,000. The central mill, located in Conroe, produced 250,000 feet of lumber each day — providing raw materials for construction throughout the country.
 

 Conroe resident Mike Smith reviewing a logging map of the area that became the Sam Houston National Forest. Both of his grandfathers worked in the logging industry in Conroe in the early 1900s

Several logging camps throughout the regions were connected to the mill by railways. Workers would cut the trees and transport them to Conroe via six locomotives and 150 logging cars. Both of Conroe resident Mike Smith’s grandfathers worked for the operation — one as an engineer with the railroad.
 

“The mill was originally going to be in Montgomery, but the locals didn’t want it there and it was moved to Conroe,” said Smith. “There was a lot of noise when the logs were unloaded — I’m told it sounded like rolling thunder.”
 

Rigby Owen Jr. noted that the first Montgomery County Fair took place in the mid-1920s in Mill Town. DLTC provided space and electricity for the annual event for many years until the event outgrew the space available in Mill Town.
 

To attract and keep workers, DLTC created camps at the logging facilities to house workers and a larger community in Conroe, between South Frazier and Interstate 45, known as Mill Town. Little remains of this once important part of Conroe’s social and economic history.
 

Conroe resident Herbert “Kix” Lamp, 90, and his two brothers were born in one of the logging camps and grew up in Mill Town. His father was a supervisor for DLTC through much of its operation.
 

A photo ca 1924 of workers at Conroe Mill Town

“My mother wanted the family to stay together so they lived at various logging camps in a period when I was born,” said Lamp. “It wasn’t luxurious, but we had running water and a relatively comfortable existence.”
 

Later, the Lamp family moved to Mill Town in Conroe in 1927 where row housing was set up and made available to workers in a pecking order based on seniority and position. In the era of segregation, white residents were provided housing with running water, blacks carried water from central water stations.
 

“We had bathtubs, but they emptied out into the backyard,” recalled Lamp. “There were no indoor toilets for anyone. You had to go to outdoor privies that were cleaned out manually. That wasn’t pleasant when it was cold outside.”
 

But residents of Mill Town were provided with not only housing, but commissary stores, doctors, entertainment and a swimming pool. Indeed the large indoor swimming pool constructed at Mill Town was one of the first indoor pools in the region.
 

“When I was around 14 I’d get 35 cents for doing four to eight hours of work cutting grass with a scythe,” said Lamp. “It was hard work, but things were cheap. A movie ticket was nine cents, a hamburger was a nickel and cold drinks were also a nickel.”
 

Lamp recalls the excitement in Mill Town and Conroe in 1936 as Texas celebrated its centennial. There were lots of activities, music and special events for workers and their families. The mill payroll provided significant support for the creation of various businesses in Conroe and expansion of the Conroe Independent School District.
 

While work was plentiful, it was also dangerous, said Smith. The steam-powered mills employed a pulley system to operate equipment. There were few protections for workers and accidents were common — taking many fingers from unfortunate employees.
 

In the 30s, while much of the nation was reeling with the Great Depression, Conroe had a strong lumber business as well as a booming oil business with the discovery of huge petroleum reserves. But in the late 30s, the supply of raw timber began to diminish in the region and the need for workers slowed — abruptly.
 

“At one point, wages dropped from 27 cents an hour to half that,” said Smith. “By 1938, they basically ran out of timber.”
 

DLTC sold its holdings in the area to the Conroe Lumber Corporation which in turn sold to J. S. Hunt. Much of the timberland logged by the operation was eventually sold to the government which ultimately became the Sam Houston National Forest.
 

No longer there, an old concrete kiln off of Interstate 45.
 

“There isn’t much remaining of Mill Town — maybe a house or two off of South Frazier,” said Lamp. “But it was a major part of the community back in the day.”
 

For information on Conroe and Montgomery County history, visit www.heritagemuseum.us or call 936-539-6873.