McCarty Wholesale Lumber Company, Inc. records

The McCarty Wholesale Lumber Company began as a partnership between Tom D. McCarty and Marvin Nichols in 1945. Together they founded the Nichols-McCarty Lumber Company and bought carloads of lumber from stock yards across Indiana. In 1952, Nichols suffered a heart attack and died, and McCarty bought out Nichols's share of the company, changing the name to McCarty Wholesale Lumber. McCarty traveled across the United States and Canada buying carloads of lumber and sold products to Indiana retailers, contractors, and construction companies. In 1964, the company suffered a devastating loss from a massive fire that swept across the company stock yard. The fire started from an emergency flare that two young boys had stolen from a train car, and the fire overtook most of the McCarty property. Two stock sheds, lift trucks, and equipment were destroyed in the fire. The company managed to rebuild and eventually bought the Delaware Lumber Company in 1972 making them one of the largest lumber wholesalers in Muncie. By 2011, as larger chain stores began to garner more business, McCarty Lumber Company struggled to remain open and active. The company eventually closed on October 31, 2012 after 67 years of business.