Then & Now: Alexander Lumber Company – Manhattan

Lumber, together with grain and meatpacking, was one of the three most important commodities of 19th century Chicago.

During the second half of the 19th century, Chicago became the world’s largest lumber market. The commercial lumber business began as early as 1833 as shipments of lumber began to be shipped across Lake Michigan to help supply the local market with building materials.

During the next several decades, geography, the proximity to the northern forests and the needs of the growing local population made Chicago the perfect location for moving forest products around the region.

To tap into the need for local lumber, many new companies began operations in small towns around the Midwest.

One such company, the Alexander Lumber Company, can trace its beginnings to the 1890s when John Alexander and his partners Tom Brittingham and Joe Hixon, incorporated their new business. With a $5,000 loan from the Continental Illinois Bank of Chicago, the firm began operations in Aurora.

During the next several decades, John and his partners expanded lumber operations along the railroad lines that extended out of Chicago.

By negotiating a series of land leases with the railroads, the company was able to operate in towns along the expanding railroad right-of-way areas and set up more than one hundred “line yards” by the late 1920s.

In Manhattan, the opening of the Wabash Railroad in 1880 led to the establishment of the village. A business district developed rapidly around the new railroad depot, including a boarding house, hotel, a blacksmith shop and lumber businesses.

One of the early lumber companies was the Eberhart Lumber Company, whose beginnings can be traced to Frederick Eberhart, who owned property near Wabash and State Streets as early as March 1889. In December 1913, Henry Eberhart took over ownership of the land and continued to operate the family lumber business for several years.

Competition began the same year when the Alexander Lumber Company first opened for business in Manhattan next to the Wabash Railroad lines.

As their lumber business began to grow, the business expanded its operations and relocated. Growth allowed Alexander Lumber to purchase the property and buildings at Wabash and State Streets from Henry Eberhart in December 1923.

For nearly 100 years, Alexander Lumber Company provided employment for many local and area residents and had been an important business for area contractors. The old Alexander Lumber property was sold to the Township of Manhattan in January 2013, and today the township offices operate from the location.