Eberly Lumber Co. closing after 155 years in Mechanicsburg

Eberly Lumber Co. in Mechanicsburg is closing its lumber yard and retail store by the end of June.

Eberly Lumber Co. was one of the first businesses in Mechanicsburg, and five generations of Eberlys saw the business through the succeeding 155 years.

                   

       

But times change, and with business waning and no immediate heirs in line to take over, brothers I.S. Eberly III and Lee Eberly are closing up shop. Both the lumber yard and the retail store on West Allen Street could be shuttered by the end of June, I.S. Eberly said this morning.

After attempts to sell the business yielded little serious interest, the brothers will sell the approximately 2 acres and three buildings, said I.S. Eberly, 74. The brothers, who have five daughters combined, are ready to retire along with some of their about 10 employees, he added.

"It's eating me up," he said, while sitting in the upstairs office with his dog, Shuey. "It'd have been nicer to have sold it."

The decline of the small builder caused sales to decline in recent years, I.S. Eberly said.

"Our business is the small homebuilder," he said. "And we're having trouble finding him. I'm not sure he exists like he once did."

The family matriarch, Anna Mary (Fitting) Eberly, 102, died March 31, and the brothers decided the time was right to follow through with the business closure, I.S. Eberly said.

The Eberly Lumber tradition began amid pre-Civil War tensions when Levi F. Eberly decided to move away from farming and instead focus more on his fledgling lumber business. It continued through succeeding generations as Mechanicsburg sprung up around the business.

The lumber yard is one of the last in the midstate, I.S. Eberly said. The retail store will host a special one-week "retirement sale" beginning Thursday, according to a mailer sent to selected recipients.

The store is offering discounted prices on lumber, decking, hardware, tools, millwork/molding, windows, skylights and interior/exterior doors, among other items.

"Things have just changed so much over the years," Lee Eberly said by phone. "You have to be young and ambitious, I guess."

Source: Central Penn Business Journal