Milwaukie Lumber Co. was purchased in July of 1987 by Steve and Richard Morse. Prior to this purchase, the yard had been operating at its present Milwaukie location since 1939 under the ownership of the Kingsley family. There have been many changes to the "Milwaukie yard" since our purchase in 1987. In 1989 our new showroom was built. This expansion took us from approximately 700 Sq. Ft. to 3500 Sq. Ft. With this new showroom, we undertook a major paving project and went from gravel to asphalt (you can imagine the favorable response from our customers!) We expanded the plywood shed in 1992 and added new office space in 1993. As you can see, the company places great importance on improving the physical plants to the benefit of our customers and employees.

In August of 1996, the Milwaukie yard was able to handle two million dollars of sales for the month. This was a worthy effort, but the needs of our customers were not being taken care of properly due to the sales volume. We immediately started looking for a store for our company. We found what we were looking for up in Vancouver, WA. The store we found and now call "Milwaukie Lumber - Vancouver yard" sits on five acres of property on 131st and Fourth Plain Boulevard. It has a retail/warehouse building that covers 46,000 square feet. The building was formerly occupied by Ziggys Building Materials and was built in 1992.

In May of 1999 we were approached by an old acquaintance--the Kingsley Family.  They were interested in selling their store at S.E. 81st and Stark Street.  In discussions it was noted that this facility was strategically located half way between our Milwaukie and Vancouver Stores.  From that vantage point the "Stark Street yard" location could be very helpful in servicing our Gresham and N.E. Portland accounts.  The existing customer base and experienced staff made this a very desirable acquisition to us.  So now, we are three stores, working together as one company to provide our customers with the exceptional level of service that they deserve.

Since 1987, Steve Morse has been the President and General Manager of Milwaukie Lumber Company.  Through the good fortune of being able to hire an outstanding group of key employees over the years, the company has grown rapidly.  The company’s future plans include continued aggressiveness in the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.  As we grow, Management will continue to support the principle of customer service established by the company.  Our success depends on it!!