The last remnants of former Canadian retail giant Beaver Lumber stand today in Wolseley, preserved by local owner Allen Gurtler.

“At this point, I couldn’t let it go, and to take it down, it would have been really upsetting to the town,” said Gurtler.

A passionate motorcycle collector, Gurtler originally purchased the property for the storage garage. Although preserving the office wasn’t part of his initial plans, Gurtler felt a responsibility to protect a piece of the town’s history.

The last remaining Beaver Lumber office represents more than just a piece of Wolseley’s past. It stands as a reminder of how a nationally recognized company began in a small Saskatchewan town.

Even before Saskatchewan officially became a province in 1905, Wolseley was viewed as a commercial hot spot.

“This was the power centre of the area,” said local historian Stephen Scriver.

Brothers Edwin and Robert started Banbury Bros. Lumber Company in 1883 and were known for contributing to the town’s early success.

“The main movers and shakers were the Banbury brothers in Wolseley,” said Scriver. The brothers operated and owned both a hotel and a stable before moving into the lumber industry.

The company’s presence in Wolseley stretched beyond the small office that remains today.

Scriver and Gurtler described a sprawling lumberyard that took up a substantial area along Sherbrooke Street, while referring to a historical photograph of the site.

“The lumberyard went down the entire street … it was huge,” said Scriver.

In 1904, the Banbury brothers purchased local competitor Gibson Lumber, which originally built the office that stands today. In 1906, the brothers joined investors in Winnipeg, and the Beaver Lumber company was born.

From that point on Beaver Lumber continued to rapidly expand across Canada. By the 1960s, Beaver Lumber operated 276 stores nationwide and had become one of the country’s largest building supply retailers.

After decades of expanding across Canada. Beaver Lumber Ltd.’s time as an independent retailer eventually concluded. In 1972, Molson purchased Beaver Lumber but kept the store brand intact. In 1999, Home Hardware acquired the company, and by 2004, the Beaver Lumber name had been entirely phased out of stores.

Except in Wolseley, where a reminder of the company’s origins remained.

The office originally faced Sherbrooke Street before being relocated to a nearby property and becoming part of Wolseley’s local museum.

After the museum was closed and the property was sold, Gurtler acquired the former site which included the office building and a storage garage.

Gurtler left the office untouched for two years before beginning the restoration process. He installed a new metal roof, repainted the building, installed plumbing and retained much of the original siding.

Gurtler also recovered the original historical plaque that had been installed when the office was part of the museum and given historical designation.

“The siding is pretty much the siding that was on it when I got it. So, I tried to keep as much as I could,” said Gurtler.

The office now stands at 205 Blanchard St.

Today, the building serves a much quieter role than it did more than a century ago. There are no lumber orders to fill, no customers bustling through the door and no sprawling lumber yard around it. Instead, it is a small space that Gurtler has made his own.

“For now, this is just sort of my mancave,” said Gurtler.

Although the office is no longer part of a surging lumber operation, the improvements Gurtler has made leave the door open for potential commercial use in the future. This could give the old office a practical purpose while allowing its history to remain part of the town.

While Beaver Lumber has long vanished from Canada’s retail landscape, its last office remains standing tall in Wolseley, a reminder of how a business that reached across the country began in a small Saskatchewan town.

Thanks to Gurtler, that piece of history has a chance to remain standing for generations to come.