Long-Bell Lumber Company

In 1887, 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, 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.

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 Alexandria 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.

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. Texas Naval Stores Company (For turpentine distillery), and Hudson River Lumber Company in DeRidder, Louisiana. Other companies were Portland and Northern Railroad (LP&N), in Longview, Washington, and R. A. Long Properties, Long’s personal holding company. The King-Ryder Lumber Company in BonAmi, Louisiana, was the first Long-Bell venture in Louisiana, also owned mills at Thomasville, Indian Territory Oklahoma, and at Winthrop, Arkansas and Hudson, Arkansas just south of Ashdown, Arkansas.

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