In 1875, Robert A. Long and Victor Bell formed the Long-Bell Lumber Company in Columbus, Kansas. The Long-Bell Lumber Company branched out using balanced vertical integration to control all aspects of lumber from the sawmills to the retail lumber yard. As the company expanded it moved further south and eventually had holdings in Arkansas, Oklahoma Indian Territory, East Texas and Louisiana, before heading west to Washington.
The company grew into one of the largest conglomerates of wood products of the era, with holdings in many states and under many subsidiary names, and sold out to International Paper in 1956.
History
Three young men went into the business of selling hay in Columbus, Kansas. A major expense was the lumber to build a wagon to deliver the hay and sheds to store it. They found out that hay was a poor business but that lumber was in high demand. They tore down the sheds and sold the lumber. Robert Alexander Long, Victor Bell, whose father was president of Kansas City Savings Bank, and Robert White, cousin of Long, whose father was the cashier, started R. A. Long & Company. Within a short time, a competitor sold out to them and they opened more stores. In 1887 Robert White died and the remaining partners bought his share, incorporated the Long-Bell Lumber Company, and moved the headquarters to Kansas City.
Subsidiaries
There were company names such as Long-Bell Farm Land Corporation, Long-Bell Demonstration Farm Company, and Longview Development Company for property in Longview, Washington. R. A. Long Properties was Long’s personal holding company, Texas Naval Stores Company ran a turpentine distillery, and Hudson River Lumber Company had operations in DeRidder, Louisiana. The King-Ryder Lumber Company in Bon Ami, Louisiana, was the first Long-Bell venture in Louisiana; it also owned mills at Thomasville in Indian Territory, Winthrop, Arkansas, and Hudson, Arkansas just south of Ashdown, Arkansas.
The company operated The Long Bell Cabinet Division located at Longview, Washington, in the former drying sheds of the lumber mill they operated there for decades. The division manufactured kitchen and bath cabinets marketed in Sears and Montgomery Ward catalog and retail stores as well as through the company's lumber distribution yards.
The Longs
R. A. Long and architect Henry Hoit built a mansion called Corinthian Hall a home to display the success of Mr. Long. After Corinthian Hall was completed, Long and Hoit began planning for Long's country home. Construction began and L[11][12] took 18 months to complete. Belgian craftsmen and Sicilian stonemasons, among 2,000 other workers, were employed to build the Longview Mansion and 50 other farm structures on 1780 acre. Some of this land was eventually donated to the Longview College and some was sold and became Longview Lake.
R. A. Long was active in charities. He built a school and other buildings in Longview, Washington from personal funds, was a founding member and President of the organization to have the Liberty memorial located in Kansas City,[13] and others.
1915 Long-Bell companies
Listed in the Southern Pine Association.[14]
- Arkansas Short Leaf Lumber Company in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- Calcasieu Long Leaf Lumber Company in Lake Charles, Louisiana
- Fidelity Lumber Company in Doucette, Texas
- Hudson River Lumber Company in DeRidder, Louisiana
- King Ryder Lumber Company in Bon Ami, Louisiana (near DeRidder), transferred from Thomasville (now Stapp), Oklahoma
- Ludington Lumber Company in Ludington, Louisiana (now part of DeRidder)
- Lufkin Land and Lumber Company in Lufkin, Texas
- Rapides Lumber Company Ltd. in Woodworth, Louisiana
- Longville Lumber Company in Longville, Louisiana
- Long-Bell Lumber Company in
See also
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Longview, Washington
Related articles to R.A. Long
- Longview Lake
- R. A. Long High School
- Longview, Washington
External sources
- https://web.archive.org/web/20130118031801/http://www.longviewfoundation.org/ralong.htm
- Grabow Incident Bibliography
- "Leather Britches" Smith and the Grabow Riot
- -1912 -Deridder houses from the sawmill days.
- Union Workers in jail - Picture!
References
- Tedd Benson. Timberframe: The Art and Craft of the Post-And-Beam Home 1999^
- Cowlitz County-Thumbnail History David Wilma, HistoryLink, September 18, 2005, retrieved July 2, 2022^
- Kingston & Choctaw Valley Railroad Company (King-Ryder Lumber Company's tram at Thomasville, Oklahoma) Cram's Atlas of the World, Ancient and Modern (accessed on the Texas Transportation Archive), retrieved December 9, 2021