Highland Enterprise closes doors after 137 years

A business that has served the Highland County area and beyond since 1873 served its last customer April 16.

Highland Enterprise closed its doors for the final time after after operating for 137 years, 77 years of which were operated by the same family.

Owner Bruce Lamb bought the business from his step-mother, Barbara, in 1988. "Her first husband, Clarence Tucker, bought it around 1933," Lamb said. "He died in 1969. When she passed away, her kids didn't really know what to do with it, so I bought it and relocated from Atlanta, Ga." 

Employees Brenda Barnes and Randy Pitzer rang up the hardware and lumber store's last customer, Keith Warner of Butler Springs. 

"I've been here 22 years," Lamb said. "We've had a lot of wonderful employees, wonderful customers."

As of April 16 Highland Enterprise had six employees at the Hillsboro office. The Cincinnati office had six employees when it closed, and the Washington C.H. location, when it closed three weeks ago, had five employees. 

On April 22 an auction will be held at 6 p.m. at the Washington C.H. facility and on April 23 an auction will be held at 9 a.m. in Hillsboro. See the April 17 edition of The Highland County Press for details or contact Chambers Realty in Hillsboro.

After Labor Day, Lamb said, he and his wife are relocating to Colorado with the ambition "to be a ski bum. We have a daughter in Washington, D.C. and a son in Colorado. I've never been in Colorado when there's not snow on the ground, so we're going to head to Colorado and Utah and see where we want to spend the winter."
  Lamb said the last day had been emotional for him and the employees, who were wearing t-shirts that read "Last Man Standing, Highland Enterprise," with the dates of operation.