Rufus Deering Lumber Company
established in 1854

Founded in 1854, Rufus Deering Co. is one of Maine's oldest firms.
The long history of the Rufus Deering Co. has reflected the growth and character of its native Forest City.

The following article appeared in the July 1986 copy of the Lumber Cooperator Magazine-

The company was founded as a lumber finishing, refinishing and marketing business in 1854 by Rufus Deering of Portland. For the first 100 years of its existence, the Rufus Deering Co. was located on the Portland waterfront, at Hobson's Wharf-directly across the street from the company's present locations, at the present site of the Naval Reserve training station.

His company's waterfront location enabled Deering to reach, via sailing ship, inland freshwater ports along the Fore River, as well as seaports in this country and abroad, with the famous Maine lumber that lumbermen harvested from local forests and delivered to the wharf by horse and ox team.

Rufus Deering labored successfully as the sole owner and operator of the company for many years. It was not until after The Great Fire of 1866 started that he, in response to the great demand for lumber with which to rebuild a large part of the city in the aftermath of that catastrophe, decided to take on two working partners.

A special note of local historical interest is that the stable where The Great Fire of 1866 started-its roof having been set afire by the fireworks of a boy celebrating the Fourth of July-was located at the present site of the Rufus Deering Co.

When the flames spread to the mammoth six-story Brown Sugar Factory, less than a block away on the same side of Commercial Street, the fire had the core of fuel it needed to become the devastating conflagration that was to destroy virtually all of the residential and business structures in the eastern part of the city.

The Modern Era:
The Rufus Deering Co. was owned and operated by one or the other of the three partners until the early 1900s at which time it was sold to James Parker, the father of famed Portland surgeon, Dr. James Parker. This change of ownership roughly coincided with the coming of the modern era, when lumber began to be freighted by streetcar, rail and truck.

Parker sold the company to Owen Weymouth in 1930, and it was Weymouth, in the 1940's that relocated it to it's present location in order to further facilitate the new means of transport.

Weymouth sold the company in 1954 to Benjamin Lewis, brother of local businessman and public benefactor George Lewis.

In 1955, William M. Moody purchased the Rufus Deering Co. from Lewis, and, along with his son William, is the current owner and proprietor.

The company has grown today to include 33 employees, including five outside sales representatives. Business is conducted on a scale that would be unimaginable to the firm's founder.

The Rufus Deering company also welcomes homeowners at its Commercial Street location, and carries a complete line of lumber and building supplies to meet their needs. Rufus Deering Co. is committed to providing contractor and industrial accounts with amounts of quality lumber sufficient for their requirements.

1854-2004

Our first motorized deivery truck. Circa-1935

Rufus Deering Share of Stock. Circa-1893.
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Wow! What great prices. Circa. 1958.
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Today one of Rufus Deering's delivery trucks.