Join the Pearce Lumber family on Saturday, October 3, from 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. for fun, food, fellowship, and prizes as they celebrate 90 years.
by Wesley Harris
For a family business to succeed through two or three generations is an accomplishment. For one to reach 90 years with a fifth generation now learning the business is something remarkable.
Pearce Lumber Company has done it by building more than a lumber business. It has built generations of relationships with the contractors, homeowners, and do-it-yourselfers who have turned to Pearce for quality products, knowledgeable service, and practical advice.
The Ruston business is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2026, marking nine decades since T.J. Pearce turned his experience in the lumber business into one of the region’s longest-running family businesses.
The story, however, begins a decade earlier.
T.J. Pearce moved his wife and six children to Ruston in 1926, in part so his children could attend Louisiana Tech, where he had studied years earlier. Pearce operated a sawmill on West California Avenue before opening the retail lumberyard near an old mule barn in 1936. The company traces its official beginning to that 1936 venture.
It was a business built around lumber, but it quickly became about something more—helping customers build.
An advertisement from 1942 described T.J. Pearce Lumber Co. as a complete building supply store, carrying paint, builders’ hardware, lumber, shingles, roofing, insulation, and other materials. The company also invited customers to consult its staff about FHA home loans, homebuilding, repairs, and remodeling.
Even then, the sales pitch emphasized something still familiar at Pearce Lumber today—experience and service.
The 1942 advertisement told customers that years spent buying, merchandising, and building allowed the store to help them avoid costly mistakes. Cheap materials, it cautioned, were not always economical, while some expensive products were no better than less costly alternatives. Pearce offered customers the benefit of that experience when choosing materials.
A family business from the beginning
The Pearce family and the lumberyard grew up together.
T.J. Pearce’s sons Reeves and Jacob worked at the business as teenagers and Louisiana Tech students. After graduating from Tech and serving in World War II, both returned to Ruston and the family lumberyard. In the 1950s, the company was incorporated as T.J. Pearce & Co., Inc., with Reeves and Jacob eventually taking control.
When T.J. Pearce Sr. died in 1975 at age 85, his obituary noted he had lived in Ruston for 50 years. Pearce had attended Louisiana Industrial Institute—the institution that became Louisiana Tech University—from 1908 to 1910. He was also a charter member of Temple Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon and treasurer for 25 years.
The family connection continued into a third generation.
In 1981, Reeves Pearce’s son Jim and Jacob’s son-in-law Cary Alsup began working full time in the business. Five years later, ownership passed to Jim and Cary. Reeves and Jacob continued working part time and helping customers with their projects.
Jim Pearce grew up working in the lumberyard before graduating from Louisiana Tech. Cary Alsup, a Pineville native, also attended Tech and married Marty Pearce Alsup. Jim’s wife, Sherri, serves as the company’s bookkeeper, a role previously handled for decades by T.J.’s daughter, LaVerne Abernathy.
A fourth generation eventually joined them. Daniel Alsup, a Louisiana Tech graduate, entered contractor sales, while Ben Alsup, an LSU graduate, became involved in sales and purchasing. Daniel’s wife, Leaia, also works in the store, one of six family members now helping meet customers’ every need. Now, with Caver Alsup joining the business, a fifth generation is carrying the Pearce Lumber tradition forward.
The connection between the Pearce family and Louisiana Tech has stretched almost from the beginning. T.J. Pearce came to Ruston partly to provide educational opportunities for his children; decades later, Tech graduates among his descendants are still operating the company he founded. Fittingly, a Louisiana Tech residence hall now stands on the site of the original Pearce Lumber location.
Changing with Ruston
Pearce Lumber has hardly remained frozen in 1936.
The company outgrew its longtime 408 West California Avenue location and, in June 2016, moved to a new facility on eight acres at 1032 Burgessville Road, just off La. Highway 33. Even a piece of the old location made the move: beams from the old mule barn were incorporated into the new building.
Its inventory has expanded along with the building industry and the needs of its customers. Today, the business supplies lumber and building materials for projects ranging from remodeling jobs to new construction. It also carries consumer and outdoor brands and operates as a local Ace Hardware store, giving customers access to thousands of items.
Much has changed in 90 years, from building methods and materials to the needs of customers. Pearce Lumber has changed with them, while holding on to the qualities that built the business in the first place.
The 1942 advertisement stressed quality materials, competitive costs, a complete inventory, and knowledgeable service. That same approach remains at the heart of Pearce Lumber: quality products backed by local employees who can help customers determine what they need and how to get the job done.
That local connection extends beyond the sales counter. When volunteers with Dubach Legends were restoring Dubach’s historic baseball field in 2023 and sought help obtaining lumber, Pearce Lumber donated the needed material. Organizer Randy Rogers recalled contacting the company and receiving a two-word response from Ben Alsup: “I’m in.”
Celebrating 90 years
Through five generations, the Pearce family continued building on the foundation T.J. Pearce laid in 1936. The basic ideas behind its success have endured.
Jim Pearce says, “We supply everything you need to make your dreams come true.” And he believes it.
From its earliest days, Pearce Lumber has invited customers to rely on its experience and exceptional service. Ninety years later, that promise remains.
And after five generations, Pearce Lumber is still helping Ruston build.
The above content is a paid advertorial.
