Downtown lumberyard paid dividends through the Depression

The Conway-Leeper Lumber Yard was on Oak Street at the north end of Water Street (now Main Street). In early 1900, the lumberyard was incorporated as the Farmer's Lumber Company. Billy Pyles was the manager for a long time. Stockholders recalled being paid 10 percent through most of the Depression in the 1930s.

A large portion of the building had to be torn down to clear the way for building the Fort Worth Pike (US 287) in 1934. When Robert Ragland retired his mule operation on Walnut Street, Farmer's Lumber bought his barns and outlying land and converted the facilities for a lumberyard. The business operated at that location until 1977 when it was purchased by Ed Gibson. In 1979, Jerry Reed purchased the property for Reed's Building Materials.

To learn more about Mansfield history, check out the Mansfield Historical Museum, 102 N. Main St., open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more info, call 817-473-4250, email museum@mansfieldtexas.gov or go to mansfieldhistory.org.

Photo courtesy of the Mansfield Historical Society.

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