Woodson Lumber Company

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the official marker for Woodson Lumber Company, right out of Burleson County, Texas. Now settle in, because this one starts with a loss and ends with something that lasts. In 1912, two brothers from Richmond, Missouri said goodbye to the only home they'd ever known.

Their mother had died, and with her went whatever was holding them in place. James R. Woodson, known as Jim, born in 1884, and his younger brother Harrie P.

Woodson Jr., born in 1892, pointed themselves toward California. Out west, Harrie worked as a laborer in a lumberyard while Jim kept the books in the office. Different roles, same industry.

That detail matters, because those California days were an education, and those brothers were paying close attention. Jim made his way to Texas in late 1912. Harrie followed in 1913.

And somewhere in there, they got word that the Reeves-Silliman Lumber Company was for sale. Now here's where a good nose for opportunity comes in. They partnered with a man named D.

E. Reeves, and they planted their flag in Caldwell. Why Caldwell?

Area population was growing, the east Texas timber market was booming, and the railroad depot sat close enough to make unloading and delivering materials downright convenient. That is what you call an ideal location. The Reeves-Woodson Lumber Company opened on December 1, 1913, and it did not take long before it became the area's primary source for building materials.

By 1916 the name had changed to Woodson Lumber Company, and that name was going to mean something in this county for a long, long time. Think about what a lumber company actually does for a community. It doesn't just sell boards.

The company's building materials, household items, and supplies equipped a majority of homes and other buildings in the area. It helped families establish homes, especially during the growth years of the nineteen-tens, and again during the post-war boom of the late nineteen-forties into the fifties. Whole neighborhoods, whole lives, built with materials that came through those doors.

And the reach of this business kept growing. Beginning in 1924, Woodson Lumber Company expanded to more than a dozen retail locations throughout the region and across Texas. A dozen locations.

Started by two brothers who arrived with nothing but California lumberyard experience and a sharp eye for a good deal. Then came 1946. Harrie's two sons-in-law returned from World War II service, and just like that, the second generation joined the family business.

The story was continuing itself. The brothers weren't just building a company, either. Jim served as an alderman and as acting chamber of commerce president.

Harrie served as a trustee and building committee chairman for the First United Methodist Church. These were men who believed in the place they'd chosen. Harrie P.

Woodson Jr. passed in 1974. That same year, the city dedicated the Harrie P. Woodson Memorial Library in his honor.

Jim had been gone since 1940, born in 1884. Both brothers, shaped by loss in Missouri, refined by labor in California, and defined by what they built in Burleson County. The marker puts it plainly: Woodson Lumber Company has had the privilege of serving multiple generations of neighbors over more than a hundred years in the same family.

One lumber company. One family. One community.

Over a hundred years. Richmond, Missouri gave the world two brothers. Texas kept them.

What the marker says

Brothers James R. (Jim) (1884-1940) and Harrie P. Woodson, Jr. (1892-1974) left their home in Richmond, Missouri after their mother died in 1912. In California they worked in a lumberyard, with Harrie as a laborer and Jim in the office. Jim made his way to texas in late 1912 and Harrie arrived in 1913. When they learned that Reeves-Slliman Lumber Company was for sale, they partnered with D.E. Reeves. Area population growth and a booming east Texas timber market made Caldwell an ideal location for the retail lumber industry. The Reeves-Woodson Lumber Company opened on December 1, 1913, and soon became the area’s primary source for building materials. In 1916 the name changed to Woodson Lumber Company. The company’s building materials, household items and supplies equipped a majority of homes and other buildings in the area. The business helped families establish homes as the area grew, particularly in the 1910s and again during the post-war boom of the late 1940s to 1950s. Proximity to the railroad depot made unloading and delivering materials convenient. The company also expanded to more than a dozen retail locations throughout the region and across Texas beginning in 1924. In 1946, after Harrie’s two sons-in-law returned from World War II service, the company’s second generation joined the family business. The Woodson brothers were also active in their community, with Jim serving as an alderman and acting chamber of commerce president and Harrie serving as First United Methodist Church trustee and building committee chairman. In 1974, the city’s Harrie P. Woodson Memorial Library was dedicated in his honor. Woodson Lumber Company has had the privilege of serving multiple generations of neighbors over more than 100 years in the same family.