The History of Diboll, Texas
Diboll is the quintessential East Texas lumber town — built from scratch in 1894 around a sawmill, owned for generations by one family's timber company, and shaped down to its street grid by the rhythms of the mill. Its story is the story of the Piney Woods lumber industry itself, preserved today in one of the finest local history archives in Texas.
Here's how Diboll came to be.
A Sawmill in the Pines
Diboll was founded in 1894, when Thomas Lewis Latane Temple built a sawmill and purchased 7,000 acres of pine timberland from J. C. Diboll, beginning operations as the Southern Pine Lumber Company. The town that grew up around the mill took the Diboll name, and on US Highway 59 just north of the Neches River in southern Angelina County, it became a center of the booming East Texas timber industry.
The operation grew fast. By 1908 Temple had added a second sawmill and enlarged his timberland holdings to more than 209,000 acres, and the Southern Pine mill was cutting some 60,000 board feet of lumber a day and employing 600 men. Diboll was, from day one, a town built on timber.
A Classic Company Town
For its first half-century, Diboll was a true company town. Many of its homes were built from lumber produced by the Southern Pine mills and owned by the lumber company, which rented them to its employees. The company maintained a large commissary — with a drugstore, post office, grocery, and feed store — along with doctors' offices, the railroad station, and the lumber company's offices, all woven into daily life.
Nearly everything in Diboll revolved around the mill and the Temple family's company. It was a self-contained world typical of the East Texas lumber era, when whole towns lived and worked within a single company's orbit.
Modernizing and Moving On
Diboll's transition from company town to independent community came under Arthur Temple Jr., a grandson of the founder, who became manager and vice president in 1948 and later president. He sold company-owned houses to the residents who lived in them, encouraged private home building, and invested in the town — a medical clinic, ambulance service, improved streets, a new fire station, and new homes.
In the 1970s, Time, Inc. purchased the company and renamed it Temple-Inland, growing it into a major national corporation with deep Diboll roots. The town's population was 5,470 by 2000 before settling to 4,457 at the 2020 census. Today Diboll preserves its remarkable history at the renowned History Center, even as the forest-products industry that built it remains part of the local economy.
Timeline
1894
T. L. L. Temple builds a sawmill and buys 7,000 acres of timberland from J. C. Diboll, founding the Southern Pine Lumber Company and the town of Diboll.
1908
A second sawmill is added and timberland holdings grow past 209,000 acres; the mill cuts 60,000 board feet a day and employs 600 men.
1948
Arthur Temple Jr. becomes manager and begins selling company houses to residents and modernizing the town.
1970s
Time, Inc. purchases the company and renames it Temple-Inland.
2020
Diboll's census population is 4,457, with the History Center preserving the town's lumber-era heritage.
Notable People
Thomas Lewis Latane (T. L. L.) Temple
Lumber baron who founded Diboll and the Southern Pine Lumber Company in 1894, building one of the most important timber operations in East Texas and the family enterprise that shaped the region for over a century.
Arthur Temple Jr.
Grandson of the founder who modernized Diboll beginning in 1948 — selling company houses to residents and investing in the town — and built the family business into the major corporation later known as Temple-Inland.
FAQ: History of Diboll
Diboll was founded in 1894 when Thomas Lewis Latane Temple built a sawmill and bought 7,000 acres of pine timberland from J. C. Diboll, starting the Southern Pine Lumber Company. The town grew up around the mill as a center of the East Texas timber industry.
Yes. For its first half-century, Diboll was a classic company town: many homes were built from the company's lumber and rented to employees, and the lumber company ran the commissary, drugstore, post office, grocery, and more. Arthur Temple Jr. began selling houses to residents in 1948.
The Southern Pine Lumber Company was the timber operation founded by T. L. L. Temple at Diboll in 1894. It grew into one of East Texas's largest lumber companies, later becoming Temple Industries and, after Time, Inc.'s purchase in the 1970s, Temple-Inland.
The Temple family founded and ran Diboll's lumber industry for generations. T. L. L. Temple started the Southern Pine Lumber Company in 1894, and his grandson Arthur Temple Jr. modernized the town and built the company into the major corporation Temple-Inland.
Business Owner?
Want Your Business Featured in Diboll?
People are searching for businesses like yours in Diboll. Get listed in our city guide and local directory so they can find you.