John Henry
Kirby, the "Prince of the Pines," shown in a 1925
photo. With East Coast investors, Kirby established land
companies with vast timber holdings in the Pineywoods. In
1893, he built the Gulf, Beaumont, and Kansas City Railroad
and used proceeds from its sale to finance more land purchases.
In 1901, he organized the Houston Oil Company of Texas and
the Kirby Lumber Company. Although at one point the lumber
company controlled more than 300,000 acres of land and operated
13 sawmills, business reversals during the depression forced
Kirby into bankruptcy. Photo courtesy of the Center for
East Texas Research, Stephen F. Austin State University,
Forest History Collection (p90s-154).