The Nona Mills Lumber Company

Organized in 1898, the Nona Mills Lumber Company of Nona, Texas, established a saw mill at Leesville in 1899. Its officers were President F.L. Carroll, Vice President G.R. Ferguson, Secretary-Treasurer J.N. Gilbert, and Assistant Treasurer L.B. Pikin. Served by its own 22 mile-long standard gauge tram railroad, the mill produced 100,000 board feet of lumber daily. By 1904 it was shipping 22,000,000 feet of lumber and had 5,000,000 feet in reserve. Nona Mills was the single greatest contributor to Leesville's lumber-based economy, and it was progressive in its hiring practices and support for the local community. Its workforce of 370 loggers and mill hands was supported by a monthly payroll of $15,000. In 1905 the company hired Miss Bird Smith as stenographer and Mrs. R.A. Davis as bookkeeper-cashier, making it one of the first saw mills in the South to hire women in important positions. It aided Leesville with a public waterworks, a public swimming pool, ice plant, fire department, brass band, and baseball team, the Leesville White Sox of the Yellow Pine Sawmill League. After a disastrous 1907 fire, Nona Mills donated a new fire station and equipment to the town, becoming a major benefactor of Leesville's growth and success.

Leesville, Louisiana · United States