Our History
Quesenberry's Incorporated started out as a small construction company founded by M.S. Quesenberry, Jr. in late 1945. M.S., affectionately known as "Ques", learned his carpentry skills from his father, who was a master carpenter. After graduating high school, he did some small contracting work in the Big Stone Gap and Powell Valley area of Southwest Virginia prior to volunteering for the US Army in 1939.
With the onset of WWII, Ques served in the US Army through the duration of the war in an infantry rifle company, ultimately achieving the rank of Captain. At the end of hostilities, he returned home from Europe and was discharged from the Army in late 1945. Ques soon found himself back in the construction business with a fellow friend and veteran, George Cline. Together they formed a small construction and building supply company, which included the manufacture of cinder blocks and aggregate supply. Ques's father, M.S. Quesenberry, Sr., became involved in the company as a field construction supervisor.
After a few years, George and Ques split the business into two seperate branches. George moved on with the aggregate buisness and Ques remained with the construction and cinder block business. In the late 1940's and early 1950's, the company performed a mix of small commercial projects and built a fairly robust residential construction business. The cinder block manufacturing effort was dropped due to larger regional competition and a retail supply business was developed, partially to support the growing residential construction market. What was Wise Block and Construction Company evolved into Builder's Supply Company and Quesenberry's Construction Company. Charles Stone, Jr served as the VP and General Manager of the construction division.
While developing the residential construction business, Ques realized that there must be a better way to build wood framed construction other than the traditional 'stick framing' method. With the goal of improving quality, decreasing labor costs and increasing productivity, Ques developed a system to lay out and prefabricate wood framed wall panels in his shop and then deliver and assemble the panels in the field. The prefabricated wall panel layout and construction system was marketed as the Q-System and was awarded two US Patents. With the use of this system, it was common to start witht he foundation walls in place, frame the floor system, install the wall panels, roof trusses and sheathing, and have the roof under felt and in the dry by the end of a long work day. With the great regional success of the Q-System's panelized framing method, Ques began an effort to market the Q-System across the continetnal US. There was some early success with the broader US market, however the business soon matured and was not sustainable.
Withe the decline of the regional residential construction market in the 1960's, Builder's Supply Company and Quesenberry's Construction Company were combined to form Quesenberry's Inc., with a renewed concentration on commercial construction. Charles Stone, Jr remained as the VP and General Manager of operations. An affiliated company, Trail Construction, was formed in the 1960's to take advantage of the surge in the local coal mining and related support business opportunities. This market matured in the 1970's and Trail Construction was dropped. Through the 1970's and 1980's, Quesenberry's focus shifted from water and sewer projects and related infastructure to commercial building projects. The company has since focused on General Contracting and Construction Manager based services for a vast array of commercial building projects. Through the generations, Quesenberry's has strived to provide a superior quality product at a competitive price. We continue to hold those original principles paramount today.
