Whenever I drive down Highway 16 west in Lloyd, I’m always captivated by the white building with the big red roof on a small road between the old Canadian Tire plaza and Pizza Hut.
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For those longtime Lloydminster residents, you can likely picture the building I’m talking about, the Nelson Lumber building.
Coming from B.C., logging and lumber, in general, was all the rage. That’s why today, I’m kind of fascinated by the story of Nelson Lumber. Raymond J. Nelson, or Ray, moved to Lloydminster in 1946 after being discharged from the military. He was ready to assume management of the local Beaver Lumber outlet, an endeavour he took on with his brother Austin.
A few years would go by and Ray saw the potential of the lumber business. He convinced Austin to venture out on their own, which they did, forming Nelson Lumber in 1949.
The brothers purchased a piece of land from Les Rendell, which was part of the original Rendell homestead of 1903.
The piece of land was a little far from town and people said it wouldn’t succeed due to its location. They were up for the challenge.
Through good and bad times, Nelson Lumber developed into one of the top 75 privately-held companies in Canada, all while keeping its head office in Lloyd.
In 1949, Ab Truss was hired as vice-president of marketing, and in 1953, Alex Foght became the vice-president of finance and administration. The two remained with the company until 1986.
Austin would move to Edmonton in 1954 to manage the Nelson Lumber expansion and the company’s presence would eventually expand to Bonnyville, Slave Lake and Grande Prairie.
At its peak, Nelson enterprises employed more than 800 people. Of course, the story of Nelson Lumber would be incomplete without talking about Nelson Homes.
The first brochure featuring Nelson Homes appeared in 1958. It featured two plans, the Nelson Standard, 768 sq. ft. at a price of $2,550 and the Elmwood for $2,995. Brief side note, Nelson Home’s website says they began the homes division in 1958, but I’ve seen other mentions that it started in 1953.
At one time, the homes were exported to Japan, the United States, Germany and even Iceland. Nelson’s first factory was built in 1958 but burned in January 1961 due to a gas explosion. It was quickly replaced by a more modern facility. In 1975, on Victoria Day, a second fire caused a few days of setback in production. The facility was replaced and expanded to include a warehouse.
While Nelson was transporting its products outside of Lloydminster, they played a key role in building or providing material for over 80 per cent of the homes in the Border City. Eventually, Ray purchased his brother Austin’s share of the company, giving him complete ownership.
In the early 2000s, prior to an eventual sale, Nelson Homes built the Hemstock and Hearthstone assisted-living retirement residence.
The Nelson Lumber Company Ltd. would be sold to an employee group in 2003.
I will preface my typical ending ramble by saying I will eventually do a second column on the man himself, Ray Nelson, but this week, I wanted to talk about the company he built alongside his brother.
In 2026, Nelson enterprises are still going strong and are pillars of Lloydminster. I’d say if the Border City is known for anything, it would be entrepreneurial success. I’ve never been anywhere with so many successful small businesses or locally-owned companies. The Nelson brothers exemplified this. Ray saw an opportunity in lumber and Austin believed in that vision.
Now knowing a little more about Nelson Lumber, I have a new appreciation whenever I see that familiar red roof on the white building.
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