Haslam

HASLAM, TEXAS . Haslam is on the Southern Pacific line and U.S. Highway 84, two miles northeast of Joaquin in northeastern Shelby County. It was formed by the Pickering Lumber Company to facilitate lumber production from the excellent stands of timber they owned in the area. The community was named for Will Haslam, who, as general manager of the company, drew the blueprints for the sawmill, planer, light plant, and log ponds, as well as the shops, tram roads, offices, hotels, and residences that were built in 1913. Separate residential sections were laid out for the families of white and black workers, and at least one church, the Macedonia Baptist Church, was built in the community. A Haslam post office opened in 1914. During peak periods the community's mill was often operated twenty-one hours a day. Many of the workers lived outside the town. From the 1920s through the 1940s Haslam reported a population of 250. During the early 1950s its population increased to around 300. As the timber in the area was depleted, the Haslam sawmill operation declined and finally closed. The community's post office was closed in 1954, and by 1966 the population of Haslam had fallen to forty. During the late 1960s the population grew again, possibly because of the community's proximity to Toledo Bend Reservoir. From 1968 through 2000 the population of Haslam was estimated as 101.