ABOUT US

J&M Woodworks was formed in 1983 by J…

Scratch that…let me start over.

The story really begins in 1970, when Mary Will (wife of our founder Jim)decided she wanted to hang exposed barn beams in the ceiling of their early 1900’s farmhouse. This was during a time when no-one, and I mean no-one thought this looked good as an interior design method.

She pitched the idea to Jim, who obviously disagreed and said no way, which promptly led him to finding an available barn to tear down and hang beams in the ceiling. Shocking right.

Admittedly, the beams looked great, however the process wasn’t very pleasant. Jim made it abundantly clear that was his last time tearing down a barn and recycling old beams.

Now you have to understand Jim was a dairy farmer…

Farmers in general have an insane work ethic and are no stranger to the more obscure jobs that escape normal humans. So for him to say he was done with barn salvaging should tell you something about the difficulties of the process.

Life was fairly normal after that..a healthy mix of family, farming, flying, and even some photography.

Normal until the summer of 1983 when Mary received a phone call from a strange woman asking if the man who tore down the barns lived there.

Now keep in mind…

This was the time when there were no cell phones, no internet or google, and no social media. So by word-of-mouth, this woman heard about “the guy that tears down barns” even though he only did one barn 13 years prior. Sounds a little like fate, no?

Also, during this time, Jim and Mary’s two children were about to attend a private school for the upcoming year. There was much concern and stress over how the couple was going to pay the tuition for school.

So back to the strange woman from the phone.

She informed Mary, she had two barns that needed torn down, and if he [Jim]wanted them, he could have them for free as long as he removed them. Mary, knowing her husbands reluctance to re-enter the wonderful world of barn salvaging and reclaimed lumber, answered with a resounding “Yes, absolutely he’ll take them!”

Needless to say, Jim was thrilled. (insert eye roll)

After some serious hemming and hawing, he conceded and took on the project. The lumber salvaged from the barns generated enough profit to pay for the entire years tuition for both kids with inventory left over. That inventory became the start of J&M Woodworks.

You guessed it, “J&M” stands for Jim and Mary. Considering she was the catalyst, it seemed only fitting.

Fast forward to 2003. Sadly, Jim was lost to a long battle with cancer and Mary was left with a choice. Sell the business and start over or keep this thing going and see where it ends up.

She chose to keep going.

We are now closing in on the 40th anniversary of J&M Woodworks. We have sold reclaimed and repurposed lumber to people all over the United States and even a few other countries like Russia, Japan, and Canada. Who would have ever guessed that a little company located in small farm town, Berlin, Pa., would have made it this far and accomplished so much?

The exciting reality…this is only the beginning.