Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

of horses previously owned and used by the fire department.
A treasured company anecdote recalls problems when a fire
alarm sounded while a load of lumber was being delivered
to a building site. It took all the teamster’s skills to get the
team to go to the proper site without first rushing to the fire,
as they had been trained to do.
Changes in time and technology brought the purchase of
a brand new, chain-driven Mac truck in 1917, and another
mechanical delivery vehicle, a 1923 Mac chain-driven truck,
in 1923. The 1923 truck, now fully restored, is displayed in
the company’s Salt Lake showroom.
In the early years, stocking, storing, loading, delivery, and
unloading of lumber, bags of cement, and all other items were
done by hand. This involved either hot and hard work or
cold and hard work, depending on weather conditions. The
“good old boys” who did that were tough, dependable men,
such as Dwight, Herb, Doug, Henry, Spike, Nels and Pete.
Excitement ran high at Burton Lumber and throughout the
community when the television series, Touched by an Angel,
which ran on CBS from 1994 to 2003, requested permission to
film in one of the warehouse buildings on State Street. Roma
Downey, Della Reese, and Randy Travis were the stars who
hung out in the Burton Lumber warehouse for the filming.
The Burton family’s ownership and management of the
company continues today, with Dan and Jeff Burton as owners.
Dan is company president, and his brother, Jeff, is vice
president of sales. Their brother, Robert Burton, Jr., serves as
the company’s general counsel, and their father, Robert T.
Burton, after sixty-five years of continuous employment, is
still chairman of the board. Growth has fluctuated as Burton
Lumber opened new branches throughout Utah and in
response to the economy. Over the last fifteen years, the
company has employed between 250 and 450 employees.
With ninety-eight percent of its sales coming from commercial
and residential contractors and owner/builders,
Burton Lumber’s 345 employees are now serving
the company’s facilities throughout Utah. These
include five in Salt Lake City: the Salt Lake Branch
and Corporate Facility, the Olympus Branch, the
Truss, Turn Key and Door Divisions. Others are the
St. George, Lindon, Layton and Logan Branches and
the newest division, the St. George Truss Plant.
Both family members and company employees
support community projects and programs.
Burton Lumber donates each year to Primary
Children’s Hospital, both through direct contributions
and by way of the annual Festival of Trees.
Burton employees have generously donated to the
Utah Food Bank for the past six years.
Although a great deal has changed in the over 100 years
since Burton Lumber’s formation in 1911, the company’s
mission remains consistent. Through dedication, cooperation,
determination, and leadership of all its employees, it
strives to reach a level of service, quality, and competitive
pricing that is superior to its competition, and to do so in a
manner that is profitable to both its customers and to itself.
The Burtons are proud of how their company has grown
and prospered throughout the years and are looking forward
to being a part of what the next century will bring.
For additional information, please visit Burton Lumber
on the Internet at www.burtonlumber.com.
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Top: Lumberyard at Salt Lake facility 1170 South 4400 West.
Above: Left to right, Carl, Taylor and Willard C Burton, founder.
B U I L D I N G A G R E A T E R S A L T L A K E C I T Y
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