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EARLY HISTORY OF COLMESNEILColmesneil had its beginning with the coming of the railroads about 1882. At this point, the Trinity and Sabine railroads, extending from Trinity to Colmesneil, formed a junction with the Texas and New Orleans which ran from Beaumont to Dallas. The land around this junction was owned by Mr. William Neyland.lt was divided into lots and a uwn was planned and named for the conductor on the first passenger train which came through it, W. T. Colmesneil. Mr. Colmesneil bought lot number II, block 3 on May 16,the Withers Hotel, which was the girlhood home of Mrs. Mollie Shillings, mother of Mrs. Fern Dean of C o 1 m e s n e i 1. On die slope of the hill at the southern edge of Cgden was the old Masonic Hall, which is still standing, Here the Yellow Pine Lodge, no. 679. A. F. A. M. was chartered December 12, 1889. So it was that Ogden, with its thriving businesses and hotels, nice homes built of good heart lumber and long board walks, sat smug among the timber lands of East Texas and boated of a population which excelled notonly that of Woodvillebut Beaumont as well until the burning1883.In the eighties Colmesneil was the largest town of Tyler County due to the South's largest saw mill here. This mill was owned by the Yellow Pine Tram and 1 Lumber Company and it gave s employment to the majority of the 3,000 inhabitants of the town. At this time Colmesneil competed with Woodville for the county seat. A plaza was laid out and the 1 oc a t i on of the court house was designated. Th is remained county property until 1925 when it was purchased by J. P. Mann.OgdenThe northern part of the town, around and beyond the Trinity and Sabine depot, was known as Ogden. Here the mill, most of I the homes and the principal businesses were first located. The mill was located to the east of the depot and the home of the manager, a Mr. Eliot, is 1 still standing in a grove of trees to the southeast of the mill. Although Mr. Eliot was said to have been very stern in dealing with his employees, underneath there was a love for people, flowers and pets. A pet deer roamed the r spacious grounds and a parrot swung from a hoop in the neighboring commissary. This bird lived in a state of delight that s her numerous antics so well en-^ tertained the coustomers who1 came to the store.* In Ogden Jess Collier's big* store was the outstanding business and Eli Jackson was his principal salesman, It, too, was near the depot, and his brother, Jackson Collier, had a business where the Spence home now stands. Unlike his brother, Jackson was a large,rough man who cared little for his appearance or action. Other businesses included a drug store, operated in its later years by Charley Holland, a milinery or hat shop where a Mrs. Tucker made and sold hats, saloons in which Bill2’ Martin and Charley Jardinesold '8 liquor and a Caboose used for locking up the intoxicated and incorrigibles. There were also a number of hotels for the mill workers and for the business men who might come that way. Among these were the Ogden, the Yellow Pine, the Tucker andof the Yellow Pine mill in 1893.An account of this fire in the Galveston News, April 20, 1893 pictures John Pollitt as leader of the force working furiously to save the main lumber yard and Ed Williams on top of the depot in Ogden howling with pain from blistered feet as he poured on the water which was passed up to him, thus saving the building from destruction. Benjamin Franklin and Wiley Parker were also on a hotel roof soaking it with water from a bucket brigade.Ed 1 lulsey,planer foreman, lost his coat containing twenty-five dollars in the burning of the planer, and a Mrs. Waj^er fainted in her efforts to spread the alarm and had to be carried home. Thus the mill became a smouldering heap of ashes. Ogden began to realize its gradual death and Colmesneil, as the addition to the south wascalled, began to grow into a thriving, cultured little town, the center of a progressive farming and lumbering area.Businesses The main street of Colmesneil ran diagonally down from the Texas and New Orleans Railroad track and a clear branch, edged by waving green willows, also ran diagonally a short distance from the track. Marks of this stream are still to be seen. On the corner of the street next to the railroad was a drug store owned and operated by Dr. Van(Continued on page 7)
Newspaper Details
Woodville Pineywoods Press
Woodville, Texas, US
Thu, May 21, 1964
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Catherine B.
USA 15 Oct 2023
Other Publications Near Woodville, Texas
Woodville Star
Woodville Pineywoods Press
Woodville Tyler County Messenger
Woodville East Texas Optimist
Woodville Eureka
