Craft & Chivalry
Building the City Beautiful
TOGETHER they would build a lone city among a land littered with stumps and the remnants of lumber camps. On their shoulders this great city would become “The Yellow Pine Capital of the World” as towns on all sides were left decimated.
The Gentry – the wealthy northerners drawn here by the swaying pines, and the reward they represented – would enter with a flash and transform a failing lumber town with innovative labor practices, vast investments and long-term cultural and financial impact on all of those who called their “City Beautiful” home.
The Guild – the craftsmen, lumberjacks and merchants – would see opportunity beckon to them and respond with vigor. Nestled deep in the poorest state in the nation, they would refuse to fall prey to many of the social ideals of the day. Instead, they would focus on innovation, problem solving and a calling to build a city from the inside-out.
Today – we honor their legacy, and take pride in the ideas they represented.
THE GENTRY, foregoing the traditional “company stores,” inspired entrepreneurs to invest in the new town. And invest they did.
Soon, what began as a few wooden structures among a dusty wasteland became one of the most diverse and successful cities in the South. What we now refer to as “Downtown” was then a flurry of development, new ideas, daunting risks and big dreams.
Supporting this surge with cultural investment – the state’s largest art museum, a system of parks to rival any in the nation, and magnificent architecture – the Gentry created for themselves a uniquely southern paradise.
From the grand homes of 5th Avenue, ornate churches – even the Italianate mansion that housed the Eastman-Gardiner Lumber Company headquarters – the Gentry’s belief was out in the open for all to see. It was built brick by brick into a town that would become a Southern treasure.
THE GENTRY, foregoing the traditional “company stores,” inspired entrepreneurs to invest in the new town. And invest they did.
Soon, what began as a few wooden structures among a dusty wasteland became one of the most diverse and successful cities in the South. What we now refer to as “Downtown” was then a flurry of development, new ideas, daunting risks and big dreams.
Supporting this surge with cultural investment – the state’s largest art museum, a system of parks to rival any in the nation, and magnificent architecture – the Gentry created for themselves a uniquely southern paradise.
From the grand homes of 5th Avenue, ornate churches – even the Italianate mansion that housed the Eastman-Gardiner Lumber Company headquarters – the Gentry’s belief was out in the open for all to see. It was built brick by brick into a town that would become a Southern treasure.
THE GUILD would do more than support the great dreams of our Iowa fathers; they would open their eyes to great opportunity and seize it with vigor.
Their inventions would transform the lumber industry time and again. Their shops would grow and expand.
You see – there was something different about these men. Instead of falling prey to the common mindset of the day, instead of complaining, or placing blame, they instead chose to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
We are surrounded by the evidence of their faith – of their risks and rewards – as we step through the doors of our own shop, modeled after the men who would transform a land of stumps into the beautiful city we call home.
INSPIRED by the work of the Iowa families to not only build strong businesses, but to serve the citizens of Laurel, we will donate a portion of all sales to The Glory House.
The Glory House is a community mission intended to serve those in need of love and caring by providing resources such as ESL classes, community meals, community service projects, and classes for better living.
We are proud to partner with this important local organization and to carry on the dreams of so many who have come before us.
INSPIRED by the work of the Iowa families to not only build strong businesses, but to serve the citizens of Laurel, we will donate a portion of all sales to The Glory House.
The Glory House is a community mission intended to serve those in need of love and caring by providing resources such as ESL classes, community meals, community service projects, and classes for better living.
We are proud to partner with this important local organization and to carry on the dreams of so many who have come before us.
