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The sawmill towns brought the people inland from the Sabine
River but usually they were not many miles away from the river. In addition
to the sawmill town of Call, Deweyville was a big sawmill
town.
Deweyville is a community in southeast Newton County located
thirteen miles north of Orange and three miles east of the circle where
Highway 87 intersects Highway 12. Deweyville was founded in 1900 when
the Sabine Tram Company built a sawmill at the site known as Possum Bluff
(or Princeton Bluff). The mill had a capacity of 150,000 feet daily, and
was sold to the Peavy-Moore Lumber Company in 1919. This company operated
the mill until 1942 when the Kurth Company purchased the plant. In 1943
the mill burned and was not rebuilt. The Sabine and Neches Valley Railway
transported logs to Deweyville and connected with the Orange and Northwestern.
The track and all installations were removed in 1946. In 1948 the Williams
Lumber Company operated a sawmill of 30,000 feet daily capacity.
A big school in Newton County is in Deweyville, located
in the southernmost end of Newton County. Until about five years ago Deweyville
was a Common School District and was governed by the County School Superintendent
and the County Board of Trustees. Deweyville was the last district to
change from a Common School District to an Independent School District
in Newton County. Deweyville has an elementary, a junior high, and a high
school on the same campus and housed in five buildings. The County Board
of Trustees and the office of School Superintendent for the county still
exists but no longer governs the operation of a school district.
The business district of Deweyville lies primarily along
Highway 12 from its intersection with Highway 87 to the Sabine River.
Business establishments include cafes, grocery stores, souvenir shops,
motels, cement company, fish markets, beauty shops, barber shops, and
service stations.
Five churches serve the Deweyville Community. The South
Newton County Sub-courthouse is located on old Highway 87 just south of
Highway 12. On the county property is a fire station. The community further
affords a community center and a lighted baseball park. Camp sites have
developed along the river, and a housing development is located along
Highway 87.
The communities close by are Hartburg, Old Laurel, Indian
Lake, and the Shepherd Settlement.
Employment for the populace is offered by plants in Beaumont,
Orange, and Port Arthur. On a minor scale, local businesses offer employment.
Other labor is construction, or with oil companies, both of which require
travel to and from the place of work.
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