History
McGinnis ‘Mac’ Clark (1921-2007)
Founder of Clark’s Hardwood Lumber Co.
McGinnis "Mac" Clark
In 1947, while attending Rice Institute, Mac Clark took a part-time bookkeeping job at C. R. Delhomme Lumber Co., which had opened the previous year in the Houston Heights. Upon graduating in 1950, he began working for the company full time. Mac spent the next eighteen years learning the business, serving most of this period as the company’s manager. When Mr. Delhomme retired in 1968, Mac bought the business, at the same time changing the name to Hardwood Lumber Co. (“Clark’s” was added to the company name in 2004.)
Mac was a decorated WWII fighter pilot; a devoted husband, married 55 years to Bettie; and the father of four children, each of whom worked at some point for the company. He had a lifelong love of baseball, which showed itself through his years of coaching Little League and his ongoing support for Rice University’s baseball teams.
Mac’s hard work and business aptitude enabled him to develop the company into Houston’s premier specialty hardwood lumber company. He ran the company guided by the values of honesty and fairness. His handshake was his word. His respect for his customers underpinned the growth of the business into a Houston tradition: a place that welcomes all people to shop freely in a relaxed setting, a place for professionals to buy top-graded products not available elsewhere, a place where service is the main priority. As a result, the company’s lumber and plywood have been used in many homes, businesses, educational facilities, and galleries throughout the southeastern Texas region and beyond.
After six decades, the company’s location has not changed, and neither has the mandate that Mac Clark established long ago: serve the customer with the highest quality hardwood lumber products and provide exemplary professional service every single business day.
Important Dates in the History of Clark’s Hardwood Lumber Co.
1946: C.R. Delhomme Lumber opens at 700 East 5 1/2 Street in the Houston Heights on the banks of White Oak Bayou.
1947: McGinnis (Mac) Clark begins working as a part-time bookkeeper at C.R. Delhomme Lumber while attending Rice University.
1950: After graduating from Rice, Mac Clark begins working full-time at C.R. Delhomme Lumber.
1968: C. R. Delhomme Lumber is sold to Mac Clark, who changes its name to Hardwood Lumber Company.
2004: Hardwood Lumber Company is renamed Clark’s Hardwood Lumber Co.
Today: Clark’s Hardwood Lumber Co. continues to be owned by the Clark family.
