Hugh Wayne Clark, Brandon Clark, "Mr. Hugh" Clark

Five Generations in the Lumber Industry

In the 1950s, J.J. Clark established a saw mill in Jackson County, Tennessee, just over the line from Macon County.  That was the start of five generations in the lumber industry.

Hugh Clark (now known as "Mr. Hugh") grew up around his grandfather's sawmill in Jackson County.  Mr. Hugh married Madeline Jones in 1955, shortly after both of them graduated from high school in Red Boiling Springs.

Madeline's grandfather and father (Lee and Genie Jones) were also owners of a saw mill, theirs in Macon County.  Both Mr. Hugh and Madeline had grown up around a saw mill, so the nature of the business was instilled in both of them.  Mr. Hugh went to work at the Jones sawmill in 1959. 

Later, Mr. Hugh's son, Hugh Wayne, decided in high school that he wanted to go into the lumber business.  Hugh Wayne went to college, got a degree in agribusiness, and then joined his father in the saw mill.

Clark Lumber Company was incorporated in 1982.

A lot has happened since the first saw mills of J. J. Clark and Lee and Genie Jones:

In 1955, the mills produced 6,000 board feet of lumber per day.  In 2005, the mills produced 100,000 board feet of lumber per day.  State-of-the-art saws, material handling equipment and drying kilns are used to produce lumber to meet each customer's exacting requirements.

Today Clark Lumber Company employees 85 people at its two mills, one in Red Boiling Springs and one in Lafayette.  In addition to hardwood lumber, Clark Lumber also produces 1,600 cubic yards of bark each week (enough to landscape 300 homes) and 1.2 million pounds of wood chips a week.  Most of the wood chips are sold to paper mills who use it to make paper.  Some of the wood chips are sold to manufacturers of pet products who make the chips into litter for gerbils and other animals.  Sawdust is sold to paper mills who use it in furnaces to dry the paper slurry.

“No part of the tree goes to waste,” Hugh Wayne reports. “Technology has made it possible to cut waste down to nothing.”

Today, Macon County is known throughout the world for the fine quantity and beauty of its hardwoods.  Macon County is Tennessee's second largest producer of hardwood lumber, and Tennessee is the second largest state in the production of hardwood lumber.

Recently, Brandon Clark, son of Hugh Wayne and Jo Clark, decided in high school that he wanted to join the business.  Brandon joined Clark Lumber Company right after graduating from high school.  “It’s in his blood,” the two Hugh Clarks said.  “Brandon can do things now that I can’t do and don’t know about, “said Mr. Hugh. “He does grading, looks at and buys timber. He’s learning every facet of mill work.”

Hugh Wayne and Jo also have a son-in-law, Brandon Gregory, learning the trade at the family mill. 

“It’s not like we’re out there growing this fine hard maple that’s desired all over the world,” Hugh Wayne explained. “God has blessed us here with a renewable, natural resource. We’ve got to be good stewards of it for all future generations to come. I feel like our society and our family is doing that.”