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Things haven’t changed much in the last 100 years at Butler County Lumber Company.
The century-old company sits on Hamilton’s Main Street on the same five acres of land that it has since it opened in June, 1912, and it is still run by the Sanders family.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said Tom Sanders, who is president of the company and the youngest grandson of Herman Sanders, who along with his brother C.K. Sanders started the business.
For more then 50 years, the company was associated with P.K. Lumber Company out of Dayton, but in 1986 the Sanders family bought them out and now fully-own the business, according to Mark Sanders Sr., who is the son of Herman Sanders and still works part time although he retired nearly 20 years ago.
“My father and uncle started when they were very young, about 17 or 18 years old,” Mark Sr. said. “My father had a good relationship with the owner of P.K. Lumber and I think that helped them get started.”
The Sanders family is preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary by hosting an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. on Aug. 23.
“I think it’s quite an accomplishment,” Mark Sr. said. “It’s been a very satisfactory time in my life and I still enjoy being here part time.”
But Mark Sr. never thought it would get here. A fire destroyed the two-story mill in 1955. When they rebuilt, they made it only one level. Another fire years later forced them to refurbish the office building.
The Butler County Lumber Company has survived all that, as well as the difficult economic times.
“Service is the biggest reason we have been able to survive,” said Tom Sanders, who currently runs the company with his brother Mark Jr. and cousin Mike. Tom and Mark Jr. each have two sons that also work at the business.. “We’re able to do some custom work here that other places can’t do because most everything is pre-manufactured.
“I just feel we have a niche in the market because we can still provide that kind of service to our customers,” he continued. “If it has anything to do with wood, we can handle it here.”
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