Whiteman Lumber Company

Whiteman Lumber was founded in 1928 by Harry Whiteman who had emigrated from England.  Mr. Whiteman began supplying the local silver mines with timber and continued doing so for many decades.  Eventually he turned the mill over to his three sons, Wes, Laddie and Keith.

In 1988, Brad and Mary Corkill bought the mill from the two surviving brothers, Wes and Keith.  The mines were the dominant customers.  It wasn't long, however, before economic and environmental issues forced the curtailment of most of the mining.  The mill had to re-invent itself and find new markets.
 
The mill began cutting for timber framers.  their first customer was Timberhouse of Hamilton, Montana.  Timberhouse was building the base lodge for the Silver Mountain Ski Resort, at the time it was the largest timberframe in the United States.

In 2009, the mill burned to the ground, at total loss.  The Corkills rebuilt the mill and today it is bigger and better and in a position to last for several more generations.
 
We have a timber sizer capable of surfacing 16" by 24".  We have two dehumidification dry kilns that do a very gentle and clean drying of timbers.  The mill can cut up to 24" wide and 36' long.  Our primary specie for timbers is Douglas-fir.  We can also supply Western Red Cedar and Engelmann Spruce.
 
We still supply underground mines across the western United States and parts of Canada.  Our primary customers, however, are timber framers and specialty wood distributors.
 
We excel at providing packages for individual homes, pergolas, venues, etc.  Our most popular product is a kiln dried and re-sawn full dimension timber.  We use a circle saw so the timber has a very appealing saw mark.
 
Brad retired from the mill on January 1, 2024.  The mill was sold to his son Nathan and his wife Jennifer.  Nathan had just finished a 20-year career as a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps and Colorado Air National Guard.
 
Incidentally, as of 2023, Greg Whiteman, grandson of Harry, is the head sawyer and has worked at the mill for fifty years.  Terry Groth, a great grandson of Harry, is the mill foreman and has worked at the mill for thirty-five years.