History

July 2nd, 1904 was the end of the McAbee Brother Timber Company and the beginning of the Southern Lumber Company. Southern Lumber began as a logging operation in, what is today, Big Basin State Park. In it's early days, Southern Lumber made most of its business selling large timbers to the quicksilver mines in Almaden Valley, and lumber to the orchard fields of Santa Clara Valley.

In 1910 Southern Lumber opened a distribution yard down in the valley, just south of San Jose. Over time San Jose's boundaries would expand, placing the yard in the center of modern San Jose.

In 1936, Ed Pohle, a former logger and Forestry Major, purchased controlling interests of Southern Lumber Company and transformed it into a family owned business focused on providing customers with high quality woods. Ed Pohle truly had sawdust in his veins. His love and knowledge of hardwoods from all over the world, as well as his experience in the softwood logging operations of the Pacific Northwest, quickly made him an authority on wood. Ed is also noted for pioneering the "do-it-yourself" market. He would cut long boards into short pieces so his customers could dabble in woodworking.

Naturally Ed's son, Bruce Pohle, grew up with wood. And after graduating from San Jose State University, he began to push Southern Lumber Company in a new direction by offering quality wood-related products. Over the years Southern Lumber sold everything from El Toro sail boats and ship building materials, to hard-to-find exotic hardwoods and veneers. Southern Lumber quickly became known as the place where people could find rare items; the sort of things that were difficult for customers to find, much less purchase at a local store.

Business continued to grow steadily until June of 1973, when Southern Lumber sustained a terrible fire, which burned the entire business to the ground. Well insured, Southern Lumber rose from the ashes. In just one year Southern Lumber returned, bigger and better than ever. A new 65,000 square foot building provided nearly a half-acre of the finest woods and building materials available in California. Southern Lumber grew from $800,000 annually in the early 1970s, to over $10,000,000 in 1996.

As the Santa Clara Valley transformed from an orchard community to the booming Silicon Valley, the local lumber business changed, too. Southern Lumber focused its business on offering high quality grade wood, supplies, and building materials. Today, Southern Lumber offers a wide product mix of hundreds of molding patterns, quality doors, and over 50 species of hardwoods. And now Bruce's son, Jeff Pohle, is keeping alive the Southern Lumber tradition of placing quality and service above all else.

The employees of Southern Lumber Company are the true heart and soul of the business. Most employees have tenures between 10 and 20 years. Their care and commitment is second to none.

Southern Lumber Company is still solely owned and operated by the Pohle family, insuring consistency in the principles that established it as a landmark business in the Santa Clara Valley almost 100 years ago.