Burton Lumber is a family-owned building materials dealer with a rich history. The company boasts 6 locations throughout Utah, but the property on which the original store was built was part of a farm that Robert T. Burton acquired soon after coming into the Salt Lake Valley as a pioneer. Burton Lumber’s business charter dates back to 1911 when Willard C. Burton became the president of the company. In those early days of our business, deliveries were made with horses and wagons.
Burton Lumber on State Street was housed in a simple frame building for many years. In 1939 an unfortunate accident occurred, and the small store burned down. This
and the economic slowdown caused by World War II combined to cause real problems for our
small company. A new lumber and hardware store which was state-of-the-art for its time
was rebuilt in place of the store that burned down. Another small hardware store was
added in the Olympus/Holladay area in 1966.
In 1983, the State Street store was remodeled again to add more office space. Burton
Lumber's Salt Lake Door Shop was created in 1975 and began as a two-person operation
from a small shed behind the State Street store. The Door Shop changed locations in
1982 and moved to what was known as the Burton Lumber Project Center in West Valley
City. The Project Center built and sold doors, fireplaces, and cabinets. Relocating
again in 1986, the Door Shop was moved back to the newly acquired warehouse behind the State Street yard. However, with business booming, it was soon recognized that Burton Lumber's Door Shop needed yet a larger space for its rising production rate. In 1998, the Burton Lumber Door Shop made its next move to a larger building on the west side of the State Street yard.
In October of 1993 Burton Lumber opened a lumber yard and door shop
in Washington, Utah. The Truss Plant began in Salt Lake City in 1996 on California
Avenue. The Lindon, Layton and Logan branches, each containing a small door shop,
opened between 1997 and 1999. One of the biggest changes to the company came in 2003
when the company purchased a 200,000 square foot facility on 15 acres of land near the airport. This new facility combined our State Street yard, Door Shop, Truss Plant and Wall Panel Plant and has been instrumental in helping our company to respond to the high demand for building materials over the past few years.
Burton Lumber has a rich, long-lasting heritage. Although Burton Lumber has grown rapidly and modernized greatly, many things remain the same. Burton Lumber is still a fun place to work. Burton Lumber still provides an invaluable service to the Utah community. When you drive by houses, subdivisions, commercial buildings, and churches, you know that many of the building materials in these structures were provided by Burton Lumber and much of the construction expertise -- wall panels, trusses, doors, and finish work -- was provided by knowledgeable and dedicated Burton Lumber employees. It is this dedication, expertise and customer service that will carry Burton Lumber forward toward the future.