Kenyon Noble Lumber & Hardware’s history dates back to 1882 when a lumber mill was established at the mouth of Hyalite Canyon outside of Bozeman. It was soon realized that it was difficult for Bozeman residents to travel all the way out to the mill, so a retail shop was opened in downtown Bozeman near what became the corner of Main and Grand, across from the historic Baxter Hotel.
In 1884 the firm was renamed Pray Lumber, and the company hired Tom Noble as a hand in the lumber yard. A few years later, Squire Kenyon moved from Anaconda to Bozeman and changed the course of the company.
Purchased by Squire Kenyon, SC Kenyon Lumber has grown and evolved with southwest Montana. During the next fourteen years as the company grew, Noble’s position evolved all the way up to Vice President.
The firm incorporated as the Kenyon-Noble Lumber Company. By the 1920s Squire Kenyon’s son, Carlisle, took over control of the company. He ran the business until the 1950s.
The firm existed in the same space all the way up through 1958. This was the year that Kenyon Noble moved into a state-of-the-art building on East Mendenhall. The store offered greater than 6600 square feet of space, plenty of room for expanding into the hardware business. The front of the store was built entirely with Kenyon Noble concrete.
Seeing the possibilities that concrete offered, the owner at the time, William Ogle, decided to increase the concrete side of his business. He spent all of the savings he had accrued for his children’s college educations on six new cement trucks.
Ogle’s children nearly grew up in the store and all of them worked there throughout their childhood. In 1976 Ogle’s sons, Rick and Bill, took over the company to keep it in the family.
Through the years Kenyon Noble has expanded dramatically, and their new store on West Oak Street is a testament to both the evolution and growth the business has enjoyed and to their commitment to provide the best service and selection in the Pacific Northwest.
Today Kenyon Noble has stores in Belgrade, Bozeman, and Livingston, all locally owned and built by the local contractors who frequent the stores through their businesses. The Belgrade store has been opened since 1997 and continues to be one of Belgrade’s largest employers.
For over 120 years Kenyon Noble Lumber & Hardware has been serving the local communities and providing them with the care and expertise that could only be offered by a company whose growth has mirrored the region and whose leaders are firmly grounded by their Montana roots.
"He spent all of the savings he had accrued for his children’s college educations on six new cement trucks."
The firm existed in the same space all the way up through 1958. This was the year that Kenyon Noble moved into a state-of-the-art building on East Mendenhall. The store offered greater than 6600 square feet of space, plenty of room for expanding into the hardware business. The front of the store was built entirely with Kenyon Noble concrete.
Seeing the possibilities that concrete offered, the owner at the time, William Ogle, decided to increase the concrete side of his business. He spent all of the savings he had accrued for his children’s college educations on six new cement trucks.
Ogle’s children nearly grew up in the store and all of them worked there throughout their childhood. In 1976 Ogle’s sons, Rick and Bill, took over the company to keep it in the family.