The Beginning

Cassity Jones, the founder of the company now known as Cassity Jones Building Materials, began selling lumber and building materials from a leased facility in Carthage, Texas in 1950. Before opening that first store, he and his brother Thomas were in the home building business, the wholesale grocery business and the truck and tractor business.

During the ’50s and early ’60s, their business prospered by building housing projects, developing real estate and operating the lumber company. In the mid ’60s, they sold the truck and tractor business and divided the assets of the company, with Cassity keeping the Carthage Lumber Company and Thomas taking the newly acquired North Street Lumber Company in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Cassity soon acquired a “hole in the wall” lumber company in Longview, Texas and began selling lumber to homebuilders. In 1971, Cassity moved to a modern full-line building material store in Carthage. This move was followed by a major remodel and expansion to the Longview store in 1973. During the ’70s and ’80s, additional locations were added in Tyler, Henderson, Marshall and Dallas. Also during that period, Cassity’s sons [John, Jimmy and Jerry] joined the business. Each had experience in other industries prior to coming on board with the family business. John came from a construction and real estate development business, Jimmy from a bank auditing background, and Jerry from the oilfield.

Transitions

In 1988, Cassity sold his interest in Cassity Jones Lumber to his children, but remained heavily involved in the business by serving as chairman of the board and spearheading special projects.

Cassity Jones Building Materials, which now operates as a separate division of Jones Legacy Ventures and consists of four lumber/building material locations. These businesses operate throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth and Northeast Texas area markets.