Gordon Street is the general manager of Miller Lumber Co.; Janet Street is in office administration; Bobby Henderson is the president of the company; Ava West is secretary/treasurer; and Randy Fondren is the yard manager and lumber inspector at the company’s Jackson headquarters.
Jackson, Tenn.— In an era where the words innovation and streamlining are as common as right and left, Miller Lumber Co., located here, continues to thrive using time-proven methods and long term quality employees.
Situated on 14 acres, the company’s main office is located at the site of the Jackson mill. Office administration Ava West and Janet Street offer a welcoming smile and a bit of company history. A physical account of times past, a filing cabinet inscribed by hand with the year 1926 remains in the office as a testament that the 86-year-old company has withstood the test of time.
Throughout the years, Miller Lumber Co. has served markets from cabinets and furniture, even automobile bodies and more recently, railroad ties and mat material. With a Cleereman carriage, a Corley edger, a two saw edger, end trimmer and a 6-foot band head rig, Fulghum debarker and chipper, the Jackson sawmill cuts Oak, Ash, Poplar and Sap Gum among other species.
Formerly catering to the cabinet and furniture markets, the company has found a niche in a “hot” market today with railroad ties. “We jumped into the railroad tie market ahead of a lot of people. We are in a good position, having our own timberlands
The Jackson mill is located on 14 acres behind the main office.
we are able to match what we cut with demand,” President Bobby Henderson said.
A seasoned veteran of the industry, Henderson has been employed at Miller Lumber Co. for approximately 58 years. His father partnered with company founder Elmer Miller in 1929, and Henderson began working around the mill at an early age.
When the company officially hired Henderson, he was sent to Demopolis, Ala. to groom a newly operating mill that had burned in 1949. He came to Jackson to take over for his father after a serious illness and later became president of the company.
Henderson attributes the success of the long-standing company to quality relationships with both customers and employees. “We have built long term relationships that we can depend on,” he said. “Price does play a role in that there are long time customers that we sell cheaper than what they can get it for on the outside market and doing business that way always swings back around. When things turn the other way, these same customers will give me premium price because they know it’s going to turn.”
Vice president and general manager of Miller South, Albert Carter; and president, Bobby Henderson.
As for the large amount of timberland owned by Miller Lumber Co., Henderson says most of it was acquired in the 1930’s and 40’s. “This timberland was mostly acquired by our predecessors,” he said.
The company founder, Elmer Miller, purchased Louisville Pointe Lumber Co. in Jackson around 1923 along with timberland in the surrounding area. Over the next few decades he purchased timberland in Alabama and Mississippi.
In 1950 Miller Lumber Co. built a guesthouse in Selma, Ala. for traveling customers. “During that time there really wasn’t a place for people from out of town to stay. So we built the guesthouse for our customers who were visiting our office and our operations in Selma,” Henderson said.
Today, most of the company’s logs come from the Hatchie River bottom on privately owned timberland. Henderson commented about the quality of the southern timber. “Our bottom timber is our best timber. Like any bottom, it’s got high places and low places. In the high areas we get good Cherrybark, Red Oak and White Oak. Our timberland has a good mix of water tolerant species,” he said.
Miller Lumber Co. has a sprinkler system to keep logs wet on the yard.
Utilizing 25 percent of outside timber at this location, the other 75 percent comes from their own 100,000 acres of timberland spread out across Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Key employees at Miller Lumber Co.’s Jackson headquarters include Bobby Henderson, president; Gordon Street, general manager; Ava West, secretary/treasurer; Janet Street, office administration and Randy Fondren, yard manager and lumber inspector.
On 48 acres of industrial land, Miller South, just an hour away in Middleton, Tenn., was originally purchased as a log concentration yard. “The initial plan was to purchase logs in Middleton and send them back to Jackson,” Henderson said. “The previous owner had a mill there and he kept a log yard at the mill site for us. A few years ago we bought that tie mill and it turned out to be a good investment.”
All foresting for the company is done internally. Vice president and general manager for Miller South, Albert Carter, handles log procurement and oversees the logging crew among other things.
Yard manager and lumber inspector, Randy Fondren grading White Oak boards.
Carter’s wife, Tommie, is head of office administration for the Middleton location. James “Peanut” Hopper is part of the logging crew and is also responsible for trapping beavers on the land. “Peanut has trapped 714 beaver in the last year and a half,” Carter said.
With approximately 60 employees between the two locations, the team at Miller Lumber Co. and Miller South consists of mostly long time employees. “We have good quality people. Some of them have been with us for 25 years or more,” Henderson said.
Talking about his 58-year career in a successful business, Henderson chuckled and said that he didn’t always intend to be in the sawmill business and that at a few points in his career he said he was only temporarily “helping out.”
“Last time I said I was only going to help for a month or two—that was 57 years ago. But it’s been good, I’ve enjoyed it,” he said with a smile. When asked what made him finally decide to stay in the business, he replied with a laugh, “I still don’t know that I am going to have a career in the lumber business.”
An employee stacking ties at Miller Lumber Co.’s Jackson location.
Miller Lumber Co. markets mainly to end users and some wholesalers. The company is a member of the Tree Farm Association, National Hardwood Lumber Assoc. (NHLA), the Hardwood Manufacturer’s Assoc. (HMA), and the South Central Lumbermen’s Club and the company’s loggers are also Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
For more information about Miller Lumber Co. and their products, contact Bobby Henderson in Jackson, Tenn. at (731) 422-3761 or Bobby Buchanan in Selma, Ala. at (334) 418-6402.
Vice president and general manager of Miller South, Albert Carter; office administration, Tommie Carter; and logger, James “Peanut” Hopper.
Gordon Street, general manager; Janet Street, office administration; Bobby Henderson, president; Ava West, secretary/treasurer; and Randy Fondren, yard manager and lumber inspector in front of 6/4 FAS Red Oak.
