Timber Resources of East Texas: Their Recognition and Development by John H. Kirby, Through the Inception and Organization of the Kirby Lumber Company of Houston, Texas...
Chicago: American Lumberman, 1902. [2],196pp. Quarto. Original red limp cloth, cover gilt. Light soiling and wear to binding. Contemporary ownership pencil markings throughout, text dampstained around the edges, light scattered soiling. Good. Item #1436
Extensively illustrated work on the operations of the Kirby Lumber Company, a division of the Houston Oil Company, originally published in the Chicago-based periodical The American Lumberman. A map included herein shows "the land owned by these companies embraces the major part of the longleaf pine lands of Texas," spanning from Nacogdoches to the Gulf of Mexico. The Houston Oil Company was chartered in 1901, and this work was clearly produced to showcase its potential for investment, including "a discussion of related oil interests, financial plan, manufacturing economies, market advantages, etc. etc." The company's operations are explored in detail, with illustrations and text on the local mills and their related camps and facilities, including the hospital system and commissary. With numerous images of workers, many of them African-American and some of them identified by name, such as "Black Mac" a planer in Beaumont. The final chapter covers the oil company itself, with views of Spindletop and the fields at Corsicana. An early work on both the Texas oil and timber industries. A handful of copies in OCLC, almost all in Texas institutions.
Price: $800.00