POCAHONTAS LUMBER NOTES 50TH YEAR IN HOME SUPPLY BUSINESS

In January 1949, Clarence Saupe purchased the R.C. Landgraf Lumber Co. in Pocahontas and changed the name to Pocahontas Lumber and Hardxware. The business moved to Jackson in 1958.

This photo was taken at Pocahontas Lumber and Hardware in 1972. From the left are Orville Fluegge, Charles Saupe and his son, Earl Saupe.

A major supplier of home building and home improvement products -- everything from PVC plumbing pipe to concrete-coated nails -- celebrates its 50th year in business this week.

Pocahontas Lumber & Hardware at 410 Highway D in Jackson has been family-owned for half a century, but the firm actually dates to 1889 when it was started in Pocahontas as Landgraf and Keininger.

Earl Saupe, president of Pocahontas Lumber, knows the history of the enterprise. His sister, Loretta Fluegge, has compiled a portfolio of old photos and newspaper clippings of the business.

Saupe says that five years after the business was started, Kieninger sold his interest to Landgraf. Landgraf then brought his brother into the company and the name changed to A.G. Landgraf and Brother.

The business was called L.C. Landgraf Lumber Co. when Saupe's father, Clarence Saupe, bought it in 1949.

The business carried lumber, shingles, lath, paint, oil, limestone, tile, brick and sand. It also had a saw mill, a lumber yard and a planing mill.

"They also made window and door frames," said Earl Saupe. "When my father bought the business there was still some of the old machinery in the building. It's gone now."

Clarence Saupe lived in Shawneetown when he bought the business. He moved to Pocahontas and operated it under the name Pocahontas Lumber & Hardware. Saupe was the only employee and he had one delivery truck.

In 1958, Saupe bought Morton-Hall Lumber Co. in Jackson and merged the two companies into one site at 210 W. Main St. in Jackson.

The company moved to its current site in 1965 and quickly became a larger supplier to the building trades. It became an Ace Hardware dealer in 1974.

In 1985, the business completed a 7,600-square-foot expansion, which gave the business 15,000 square feet of display space. There are more than 30,000 square feet of storage on five acres.

"Our service radius has grown to about 40 miles but we'll go farther if needed," said Saupe. "We have everything it takes to build or improve a home."

Equipment includes four forklifts and seven delivery trucks.

The business employs 31 people, and one salesman spends much of his time on the road. Two employees have been hired since the first of the year.

Saupe's grandson, Jesse Saupe, a sophomore at Jackson High School, works part-time at the business. That makes it three generations of Saupes.