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About Gilkey Lumber Company...
A Brief History
In 1953, the founder and president of Gilkey Lumber, Mr. Jess Parton,
purchased a wholesale pine lumber business in the Gilkey community.
The business employed approximately eight people. In 1955 a sawmill
was added to the business. A fire destroyed the sawmill in 1963,
and it was rebuilt in 1966. The sawmill remained in operation until
1989, when a new Salem band mill was installed and is still in operation.
In 1980, as the overseas demand for North American hardwoods was
still in its infancy, Gilkey entered the export marketplace. We
remain committed to exporting because be we believe the mixture
of quality and excellent specifications we produce allows us to
offer the products overseas customers are expecting. The last 15
years have seen extraordinary growth at Gilkey Lumber. In 1989 when
the company installed the computerized band mill to increase yield
from each log and ensure that every board is of consistent thickness.
In 1992, the company's dehumidification kilns were torn down and
replaced with 4 computer-controlled, conventional steam kilns with
a total capacity of 320,000 board feet (755m3). In an effort to
be as efficient as possible, the company uses sawdust to fire the
boiler for the kilns. Last year, a computerized optimizing edger
was added, which has increased yield and further upgraded the quality
of our lumber manufacturing.
Gilkey Lumber built a new office building in 1999, showcasing many
of the different species of lumber processed through its mill.
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