In business since 1911!

Arnold Lumber Company began when Carold "Kit" D. Arnold purchased a small wood lot at Ridge Hill in N. Kingstown in 1911. He took the logs cut by hand from this lot to a local sawmill to be planed, and then shipped the lumber via the Kingston Freight Yard to New Hampshire, New York and Connecticut.

Soon, Kit had to travel as far as Maine to gather pine to support his business. Kit and his son, Arthur Arnold Sr. made a family business out of hauling lumber from Maine to Providence to be sold locally. It was on one of these runs the Arnolds came up with the idea to begin Arnold Lumber as a retail business. They began buying extra wood in Maine and selling it to local people and businesses in South county. As the business grew, the family began selling lumber to local customers out of their garage.

In 1952, our founder passed away, but his family kept the business growing. That same year, we built our first lumber shed on Fairgrounds Rd in West Kingston. Often, customers would come to the yard on Sunday, even though it wasn't open, pick out the wood they needed, and leave a note saying that they would return to pay for it on Monday. So began Arnold Lumber's commitment to customer service.

In 1975, Art Arnold, Jr. came home from the Army Corps of Engineers to join the business. In recent years, Arnold Lumber has grown to become one of the largest lumber companies in Rhode island, with a large fleet of delivery trucks, more than 150 employees and unsurpassed contractor services.

We may have outgrown selling wood from the garage, but we still make our customers feel comfortable and at home by selling quality products and providing exceptional customer service.