Texla is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in northern Orange County

Orange County, Texas

Orange County is one of 254 counties of the State of Texas and its county seat is the city of Orange, Texas. In the year 2000, the population of Orange County was about 85,000. Orange County is the county in the very southeastern corner of Texas, with a boundary with Louisiana and a seacoast on the...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, in the southeastern part of the state. It is located northwest of Orange

Orange, Texas

Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...

, just west of Mauriceville

Mauriceville, Texas

Mauriceville is a census-designated place in Orange County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,743 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

. The site was originally called Bruce, after the postmaster Charles G. Bruce when the office opened in 1905. The first sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 to operate there was known as the Harrell-Votaw Lumber Company with a close proximity to the Orange and Northwestern Railway. The following year, the R. W. Wier Lumber Company out of Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 took over operations. The site (and the post office) was renamed Texla, due to its proximity to Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. The owner Wier sold out to the Miller-Link Lumber Company in 1917. The peak population of the town reached an estimated 600 residents. In 1918 the mill was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt in 1919 with a double-circular mill of the same size. Within a year, the Peavy-Moore Lumber Company of Deweyville

Deweyville, Texas

Deweyville is a census-designated place in Newton County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,190 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Deweyville is located at ....

 took ownership, and operated the site until the nearby timber became exhausted. In 1929, the mill was dismantled and the site was abandoned.
From 1945 until 1977, a sawmill operated under the name Texla Lumber Company in nearby Mauriceville, according to the Texas Forestry Museum.

External links

• Texas Transportation Archive, 1926 United States Geological Survey map of Texla, Texas showing the log tram of the Peavy-Moore Lumber Company.