About Clifford Lumber

About our products

Our unfinished lumber is full cut, meaning that a 2” x 4” measures a full 2” x 4”. We source our logs from local foresters and loggers operating within 50 miles of the mill. A vast majority (95%) of our logs are purchased from wood lots managed by a professional forester. The remaining come from lots being cleared for building, property management, and tree care professionals.

All of our waste products—sawdust, shavings, and bark—are sold to local individuals for use with livestock, landscaping and other agricultaral pursuits.

All of our firewood is dried in kilns at the mill. The kilns are fired with waste wood from the sawmill—not oil, propane, or electric sources.

We have plans to install a power generator that would run from vegetable oils or used hydraulic oils from our equipment.

All of our boxes and crates are made with our lumber and employing local labor onsite.

A local family business since 1929

Harold Clifford started in the lumber business in Starksboro, VT on the family farm in October, 1929. It was soon determined more room was needed than the farm could afford, so the sawmill was moved to it’s current location in Hinesburg, VT.

At first the land was rented from Reggie Bird, since Harold was not sure if there was enough business for another sawmill in Hinesburg. As the business and prospects for the new mill grew, the property was purchased.

Harold Clifford

After World War Two, a second mill was added on the property, and the main mill ran two shifts to supply lumber for homes being built in the Northeast. After returning from the war, Harold Gardner (Harold Clifford’s son-in-law) joined the firm as foreman and hardwood lumber grader.

Lynn Gardner (Harold Gardner’s son and grandson to Harold Clifford) purchased the business in 1972. The small mill was shut down and retrofitted into a planer mill and the main mill was modernized. A new mill was setup in 1983 and operated until a fire destroyed it in 2007. In 1994 a firewood mill was added along with dry kilns to dry firewood. A newer, more modern mill was built and running by June of 2008 to replace the mill lost in the 2007 fire.

Peter Gardner (Lynn and Marie’s son) was made a partner in 2002. Peter graduated from Paul Smith’s College in New York State with a degree in Forestry Terminology and later graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor’s degree in Forestry Management.

Peter with a fresh crop of boxes

Clifford Boxes was started by Peter in 2005. Today Clifford Boxes are sold throughout New England to a wide variety of customers. Amanda Gardner (Lynn and Marie’s daughter) has recently joined in the efforts to reach more customers with Clifford Boxes after living in Costa Rica for 15 years.

Clifford Lumber today