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Serving the Greater Denton Area | Located in Denton, NC
Wilson Carter Supply Company - Logo
336-859-4291
About Us
 Serving the Greater Denton Area | Located in Denton, NC 
336-859-4291
Serving the Greater Denton Area | Located in Denton, NC
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ABOUT WILSON CARTER SUPPLY COMPANY

Wilson Carter, the owner of Wilson Carter Supply Company, began working in the lumber business in 1953. He had graduated from Denton High School in 1945, after completing 11 grades (12th grade was added a few years later) and then graduated from North Carolina State University in 1949 with a degree in textiles. After graduation, Wilson worked for American Efird Yarn Mill until the end of December 1950.

Uncle Sam came calling and so Wilson went into the service in January 1951. He was stationed in Germany for 1-1/2 years. After being discharged in January 1953, Wilson joined his brother-in-law as a partner in Davis Supply Company. They sold local lumber for framing, finished lumber, molding, hinges, locks, building supplies, paints, made windows and doorframes, as well as cabinets.

Later, the brothers-in-law decided to part ways, as Wilson was ready to be out of the lumber part of the business. He was going to go out on his own and only sell building materials. In September 1965, Wilson Carter Supply Company was born. As a new building was being built on Highway 109, Wilson opened his business in a small office space in “downtown” Denton.

Opening his business in such a small space presented some interesting challenges, including where to store items such as sheetrock and mortar mix. The “Old Hatchery” was available, so customers had to go to a separate location after purchasing those items to get them loaded.
little girl smiling

The Journey of Wilson Carter Supply Company

The new location for the store was on the site that originally had been a planer mill and lumberyard. It was being transformed into a location for the first builder’s supply store in Denton! Various local craftsmen had their hand in building the new store: Joe Lax, Richard Smith, Dewey Tysinger, and Ross Snider, among others who helped to make Wilson’s dream a reality. Before too long, the new building was ready to occupy!

At his new location, Wilson originally carried roofing, sheetrock, mortar, paint, builder’s hardware, sheetrock, molding, and finish lumber. Heavy items such as roofing, sheetrock, and mortar were delivered by boxcar, so Wilson and his first helper, Dalton Gallimore, had to take the truck downtown and load these products onto the truck by hand. Once loaded onto the truck, they would bring it to the store and unload it.

When they sold it, they loaded it again and if delivered, unloaded it again at the jobsite; today, we are so thankful for forklifts that do a lot of our heavy lifting for us! It was at this point that Wilson’s wife, Ruth, came to work as the secretary and bookkeeper at the business. With 2 girls in elementary school (Cathy and Susie), and a 3-year-old (Anne) at home, it was a good time to make the transition to the world of work.

Anne came with Ruth to the store much of the time and even took her naps there and was always within earshot when they answered the phone “Wilson Carter Supply Company.” She heard that so much, that she told someone that her name was “Anne Carter Supply Company!”
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Learn More About Our Owner

Wilson was able to use his drafting abilities that he had acquired in drafting classes at NCSU by creating scaled drawings of house plans for customers. People would come in with a rough idea of what they wanted in a house and Wilson would transform their dream into reality by drawing their plan to scale so that could know what they needed to build their house. Many homes in the Denton area began with an engineered drawing by Wilson Carter.
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Dedicated Supply Professional in Denton, NC

Wilson began a tradition that continues to this day; customer service. He listened to the needs of his customers and began adding products per their request. It wasn’t too long before framing lumber began making its way into his mix of products. Then came pressure-treated lumber to be used around the lakes. As time passed, he continued to add more and more products until today, you are likely to find just about everything needed to build a house! We provide FREE parking!
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