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one travel about five miles west of Cleveland on Texas 105, there is a marker
pointing north to the sawmill town of Fostoria. There is nothing there now, except
a few concrete foundations covered with pine needles and an old abandoned cemetery...
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Fostoria's history begins with the 20th Century when it was known as Clinesburg
after a sawmill operator. The mill was acquired by the Foster Lumber Company of
Kansas City, and the name was changed to Fosteria in 1903. Lumber was still the
major economic engine in East Texas
and between 1910 and 1920 the population was around 1,000 people - most of whom
were Foster Lumber employees. It peaked at 1,500 between 1915 and the mid 20s.
The company issued their own scrip which had to be spent in town. Up until the
day it closed in 1930, Fostoria's only business that was not controlled by the
company was the US Post Office.
The company and town prospered throughout the 30s and 40s and at one time
it was one of the largest sources of Southern pine lumber in the US. When the
company shut down in 1957, former company housing was sold to the former employees
and the downtown businesses closed with the company. The population was still
500 into the 1960s but twenty years later only a cemetery and scattered buildings
were left.
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