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Steves Family Recognized for Historic Impact on Texas

General News

During the two-day 2023 Conference on Texas at the Witte Museum, the 12th annual Texas Trailblazers Award Luncheon honored the Steves family for their history of philanthropy and community involvement.  The award celebrates “Texas’ wild and vivid lands, especially its people, their resilience and how they adapted to or impacted ever-developing Texas.”

The Steves Family and company Steves & Sons, Inc. receives recognition as Texas Trailblazers by the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas.
The Steves Family and company Steves & Sons, Inc. receives recognition as Texas Trailblazers by the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas.

German immigrant Edward Steves began building his business in the 1860s and founded the Ed Steves Lumber Company, from which Steves & Sons traces its heritage, in San Antonio in 1866.  The company grew and prospered over the decades purchasing millwork from mills in the Midwest as Ed Steves and Sons Lumber Company.  In 1919, Edward’s son Albert Steves Sr. then opened  Steves Sash and Door Company and began manufacturing millwork in San Antonio, which was later managed by his grandson, Marshall Steves, Sr. In 1955, Marshall Steves Sr. made the decision to exclusively manufacture hollow core doors, which remains the core business of Steves & Sons today.

Sam (left) and Edward (right) with their father, Marshall Steves (center)
Sam (left) and Edward (right) with their father, Marshall Steves (center)

“While entrepreneurism was passed on generation to generation, so was the need for public service,” said Edward G. Steves, CEO of Steves & Sons, at the Texas Trailblazers Award Luncheon. “As I stand here representing our entire Steves family, I recognize that we are temporary stewards of a legacy provided to us by our forbearers.” Sam Steves, president of Steves & Sons, said, “Today we manufacture well over 10 million doors a year, serving the finest millwork jobbers in the country, as well as exclusively serving The Home Depot, where we have been awarded their Vendor of the Year award four times.”

Brothers Sam Bell Steves II (left) and Edward Steves (right) celebrating their partnership with The Home Depot.
Brothers Sam Bell Steves II (left) and Edward Steves (right) celebrating their partnership with The Home Depot.

As “trailblazers,” members of the Steves family have served as mayors of San Antonio and Terrell Hills, as chairman of the Community Chest of San Antonio, now the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, and president of HemisFair ’68, among other civic leadership roles.  The company, which manufactured propellers for the Army Air Corps during World War I and joinery work for Liberty ships during World War II, now has six manufacturing plants with over 1,400 team members in five states, serving the entire country.

An old photo of the Steves family, many of whom were mayors, chairmen, and presidents of various Texas cities and community groups.
An old photo of the Steves family, many of whom were mayors, chairmen, and presidents of various Texas cities and community groups.

About Steves & Sons, Inc.

For over 157 years, Steves & Sons Inc. (www.StevesDoors.com) has provided quality products for homes, with an emphasis on doors, and continues to build its business and reputation among builders and homeowners nationwide. With interior and exterior door plants in San Antonio, and interior door plants in Richmond, Virginia and Lebanon, Tennessee, and now in Brigham City, Utah, Steves & Sons currently employs more than 1,400 team members. Last year Steves & Sons announced it plans for a large-scale molded door skin plant in Athens, Georgia which is well under way, and the company expect first board production in midyear 2024. The six-generation, family-owned business is built on a commitment to quality, superior craftsmanship and style, and a long tradition of environmental responsibility expressed in long-lasting products incorporating recycled elements in their design.

Contact:

Marvin G. Pipkin – Media Contact – (210) 213-3378

Source: Steves & Sons, Inc.