This operation was the continuation of the Steely sawmill at Phelps, which had been in operation since 1900, except for 1941 to 1945. Andrew Arnold Steely, the third generation of the Steely family to own and operate the mill, moved it to Southwood Drive in 1962.
In 1966, this outfit employed less than twenty-five workers. Kelvin Steely, the fourth generation of the family, bought the plant in 1983, and it has grown steadily since. By 1993, the company was milling loblolly and shortleaf sawlogs into timber and select boards, fence material, and roof decking. The daily cutting capacity was 45,000 feet, with equipment including a single band/carriage headrig, one circular headrig, one cant gang/edger, one board edger, two trimmers, and a planing mill. By 1994, employing forty-five workers, the plant can produce eighteen million feet annually of 1-inch and 5/4-inch lumber with a debarker, cut-up deck, circular saw, double-cutting carriage, one gang edger, dry kilns, planing mill, and a drop sorter-stacker.