City of West Orange, pioneering paper mill to get state markers

The Texas Historical Commission has approved two new local historical markers, one for the City of West Orange, and the other for the Orange Paper Company, founded in the early 1901 that operated more than 90 years.

Meritta Kennedy, who is on the West Orange City Council and a member of the Orange County Historical Commission, did the research and wrote the application for the marker for West Orange.

Ken Steppe, a retired paper mill executive who helped open the Owens-Illinois container board plant north of Orange in 1967, did the research for the Orange Paper Company, later named Yellow Pine Paper and then Equitable Bag. The application was written by Jerry Pennington, a retired lawyer and judge, who also serves on the Orange County Historical Commission.

Kennedy's research shows that a town plat for West Orange was made in 1902 on the west side of Adams Bayou, across from the city of Orange. Two houses still stand that were built in 1901, before the plat was finished. One is on Western Avenue and the other on Boston Street.

People first had to cross the bayou by raft or boat, but a wooden bridge was built soon after the plat was made. The bridge allowed horses, along with horse-pulled wagons and buggies to cross.

An early business was Peder Iron and Steel, which was a warehouse for bricks and rice.

West Orange also had the Doc Brown Dipping Station, a place where locals who raised cattle went to dip their animals to prevent a deadly tick disease. Kennedy's research showed the cattle were first dipped in crude oil, but a later preventative was a concoction that included arsenic.

The city also had a thriving agriculture business and the Del-Dixi cannery that canned or bottled local crops including green beans, fig preserves, and its famous dill pickles.

The city's population was 2,539 in 1950, the years after a World War II shipyard boom and the opening of the DuPont chemical plant. By 1960, the population was up to 5,080. Now, the population is estimated at 3,444.

Leaders in the city tried twice to get citizens to incorporate, but voters rejected the idea. Finally in 1954, incorporation was approvedd by a margin of 381 to 90 and the city officially was formed.

The Orange Paper Company, later Yellow Pine Mill, was formed mainly by leaders in the local lumber business. It was a way to turn scraps from the lumber mills into paper, a marketable product.

Investors included William H. Stark, Dr. Edgar Brown, Leopold Miller, J.W. Link, and F.H. Farwell.

The mill was built on the east side of Adams Bayou at the end of Front Street in 1901 and an expansion was made by 1910.

Steppe's research showed it was a pioneer for developing paper mills across the South. By the 1920s, the paper mill had so many employees that 30 people lived on the grounds in nine single-family houses and what was described as a "tenement." A restaurant was also on the grounds.

The mill was sold to Equitable Bag about 1936 and continued to operate under that name for another 90 years.

Once the Texas Historical Commission historians approve a marker, they compose the wording. The wording is then sent back to the local commission for approval before going to a foundry, where a heavy bronze plaque is cast with the inscription. The process takes months.

Orange County had three markers approved last year, but none of the plaques have been received at this time.

The marker for West Orange is to be installed at West Orange City Hall on Western Avenue. The marker for the paper mill will be placed at Heritage House Museum on Division Avenue, about two blocks away from where the mill was built.