By Rickey Robertson
The sawmill and town were built beginning in March 1917. The town was wholly company owned and had many amenities not seen in other towns. The town had running water, electricity, commissary, drug store, hotel with 134 rooms, theater, garage, icehouse, church, and a large school known as Peason High School. The first graduating class was in 1922. The company also had its own rail line that ran from Sandel, La. on the KCS Line to Peason. The railroad was known as the Christie & Eastern and hauled passengers, freight, and logs. In its heyday 2000 people lived and worked in Peason.
During its peak production, the Peason Mill was billed as the largest pine lumber operation west of the Mississippi River. The average monthly production was nearly 4 million board feet. In the mid 1920's the mill ran a double shift and produced nearly 7 million board feet monthly. Spur logging lines ran throughout the area. Log trains brought in huge loads of virgin pine timber. But even with mechanical loaders and skidders, the company had to have ox, mule, and horse teams to drag out logs from inaccessible locations. My grandfather, O.A. Robertson, son of a blacksmith, after returning from the Army in World War I, trained his own and the company teams of oxen and mules. In 1922 Peavy-Wilson Company bought him a new log wagon to haul heavier and larger loads of logs on.
Peason has many unique items, with two old sayings with special meaning: "If you ever take a drink of Peason water, you'll always come back to Peason!" and the other "to the folks who live in Peason, a stranger is just a friend we haven't met yet". Come and drink some Peason water with us Peason folks and let's make friends !