Leroy Cardwell started working in the timber in 1954 when he was 14 years old. He worked with his dad Junior Cardwell until after he got married. In 1964 he formed a partnership with Charles Hicks and started C & H Forest Products. They bought their first saw mill from Junior Cardwell for $250.00. They logged their own timber and in July 1969 divided the business with Mr. Hicks taking over the log
ging and Leroy doing the sawing. Cardwell Lumber started in 1969 with three employees and now employs around 125 with 3 locations. The first and main location is the saw mill in Novelty, Missouri; a pallet mill in New London, Missouri; the main retail facility and custom lumber mill here in Jefferson City, Missouri. Since the early beginnings through present day, Mr. Cardwell's main portion of the business has been in Whiskey and Wine Staves out of White Oak. It was not until 2008 that we started Kiln drying lumber for retail sales to local cabinet makers, flooring companies, construction companies, and local craftsman. Since 2008, the retail side of Cardwell Lumber has grown and helped shape the industry in Mid-Missouri. By offering kiln dried lumber at an affordable price to our customers with the options of being able to plain and sand lumber, custom crown molding, straight lining, gluing, and routing to desired needs has enabled our customers to build beautiful, top notch quality products at a competitive price. Our goal here at Cardwell is to build strong long-term relationships with our customers through great customer service, quality of our products, and a fair market based price. Without our customer loyalty, we would not have become the company we are today.
