MILESTONES
Smithers Lumber Yard has a long and storied history that spans over a century. Over the years, the company has been through several major ownership changes but has remained a fixture of the local community.
Smithers Lumber Yard was founded as Williams-Carr Lumber Company in 1913. It was a major supplier for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway that was slowly making its way north.
Smithers Lumber Yard was founded as Williams-Carr Lumber Company in 1913. It was a major supplier for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.
A year later, in 1914 George Little, a pioneer sawmill operator from Terrace, first purchased the rights and buildings of the lumber yard, adding it to his chain of George Little Lumber Yards. The store was located at the corner of Alfred and Queen Street in Smithers.
Under various managers through the years, towards the end of April 1927 Mr. A.C. (Fred) Fowler came to Smithers to manage the lumber yard. Mr. Fowler’s first few years as manager of the lumber yard were “tough” as he puts it himself, because the depression period had hit the United States, and Smithers was also feeling the pinch.
However, by 1936 things were starting to look up again. In 1930 owner George Little announced that he was disposing of his lumber interest. He came to Smithers and offered to sell the complete stock for a cash payment down, with the balance to be paid through proceeds of sales. Money was still scarce, but with the help of a life insurance policy and some private backing, a deal was made and the new owners of the lumber yard were A. C. Fowler and Reg Collison.
Things went well for the new owners until the outbreak of World War II, when restrictions were placed on local lumber sales and times were tough for a while. The break came when a big airport camp was started. Lumber supplies at Terrace were cut off, but a sawmill came up for sale at Seymour Lake. With some assistance from a willing banker, Fowler and Collison purchased the mill. They sold lumber to the airport until the spring of 1949, when they sold the sawmill and began to concentrate on the lumber yard again. In 1955, by mutual consent, the Fowler-Collison partnership was dissolved. Collison went back to contracting, and Fowler continued the business with the assistance of truck drivers. In 1965 he sold the business to three Hofsink brothers, Fred, Bill and George.
Fred Hofsink recalled the purchase of the yard as follows: “In ‘64, we started Triple H Construction. We started building houses, and then we asked to rent this empty warehouse. He `{`long-time owner A.C. Fowler`}` said no, you can buy the whole works.” The brothers moved to the current location in 1972, a huge change according to Fred. The heated warehouse was built in 1981.
In time, Fred Hofsink became sole owner of Smithers Lumber and managed the store for 33 years. At his retirement, Fred passed the lumberyard on to his sons Willy, Harry, and Fred Jr. in 1998. Harry became the sole owner in 2013. After 25 years, in 2023 when Harry retired, he passed the store to his daughter Melissa Kernel and son Curtis Hofsink, along with their new partner Avi Ranjan. As third generation family managers, Melissa and Curtis are honored to carry on their family legacy and are excited to welcome new partner Avi into the management team.