F. T. Marple Lumber Company
Biography
The F.T Marple Lumber Company founded by Floyd T. Marple (1880- 1959), began approximately in the 1920s located at East Lake Street Kalamazoo Michigan. F.T. Marple was a building buyer and contractor since 1913. The earliest known advertisement for the F.T. Marple Lumber Company is seen in the Kalamazoo Gazette in 1920 and it was first seen in the Kalamazoo city directory in 1921. The ad stated F.T. Marple Lumber Co. below that, Lumber and Building including owner F.T. Marple in the left-hand corner and R.S. Marple Jr in right-hand corner. These ads are seen in the Kalamazoo city directory until 1929, which in 1929 the ad is the same but drops of the owner’s name. The Company is still listed in the directory just under only its name and it is listed like this until 1931.
The F.T Lumber Company after 1931 became only a building and contracting company located at 625 Wheaton which is listed under building and contracting in the Kalamazoo Gazette. They take out ads in the newspaper frequently and in the 1941 Kalamazoo Gazette they are listed as F.T. Marple Homebuilder. In the city directory F.T. Marple is listed in the Contractors-general in 1947, 1948, 1949, and 1950 but continue to take ads out in the local newspaper. In August of 1959 the founder of F.T. Marple Lumber Company, F.T. Marple passed away which is listed in the Kalamazoo Gazette. After his passing there is no more mention of the F.T. Marple as a homebuilder company.