In 1950, Mr. A. B. Brown, Jr. started “Shelby County Lumber, Co.”, a saw mill manufacturing operation out of Columbiana, Alabama. He mainly manufactured lumber for the booming rail road industry for some 25 years. This was a solely wholesale operation.

Around 1973, Mr. Brown Jr. opened Brown Lumber and Building Supply, Inc., a retail lumber and building material store located across town from the saw mill, but still in Columbiana. Around that same time, Mr. A. B. Brown Jr.’s son A. B. Brown III, a recent graduate of Auburn University, started with the company and worked for Brown Lumber’s retail store. After a few years in the retail business Mr. Brown Jr. decided to close the lumber manufacturing operation and pursue the growing retail business.

In 1988, Mr. A.B. Brown Jr. passed away and left his son AB Brown III (Andy) to manage Brown Lumber, which he still does to the present day.

Upon graduation from Auburn University in the Spring of 2007, Andy's son Andrew joined the business to mark the third generation of family ownership in Brown Lumber. Andrew currently serves as the sales manager for the contractor sales department at Brown Lumber.

Located in Shelby County (the fastest growing county in the state of Alabama) with a population of about 150,000, Mr. Brown Jr.’s vision of growth for the county is coming to fruition.