Masonry Magazine July 2006 Page. 16
Contractor to Contractor
MCAA MEMBER CONTRACTORS RESPOND TO THE INDUSTRY ISSUES OF THE DAY.
Jim Johnson
Harold F. Johnson Masonry Inc.
Cheyenne, Wyo.
For Jim Johnson, masonry has been a family trade for more than 100 years. Johnson's grandfather, Louis Johnson, started in the masonry field in 1898, followed by his son, Harold, in 1944. Following in his family's footsteps, Johnson began working with masonry in high school and has pursued his love for the trade ever since. As the president of Harold F. Johnson Masonry, Johnson has helped continue to build the family company by adding commercial, educational, government, historical restoration, industrial, institutional and landscaping work. He took time to talk with Masonry about his company's history, some of the more difficult obstacles he's faced, and where he sees the future of the masonry industry.
All photos courtesy of Singer's Studio & Gallery/
Madon Masonry Inc.
Masonry: Tell us about Harold F. Johnson Masonry's (HFJ) history.
Johnson: My grandfather started laying brick a little before the turn of the century in western Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. In 1918, he started working out of Cheyenne. He did some contract work, but he was primarily a bricklayer and ran jobs. He was the president of the Bricklayer's Local, and he died in 1936.
He taught my father, and my father started the trade around 1927 or 1928, working out of Cheyenne and surrounding areas ever since. He started his business, Harold F. Johnson Masonry, in 1944. There was hardly any equipment to speak of in those days. There were a lot of good bricklayers and real craftsmen, and they did travel a fair amount; the Denver area was always huge and always a brick town.
I started working for my father during the summer months in high school and through a couple years of college. 1 went on to become a partner in the business and, as time went on, I ended up owning the business.
Masonry: You have third and fifth-generation masons working for your company. Do you feel having employees with this long-term, family involvement in masonry adds depth to your company and its knowledgebase?
Johnson: I really do. There were some methods and terms that were passed on from my grandfather to my father, and then to me. There are a lot of methods and types of work that aren't done anymore, and the terminology has gone away. But, when you do know these methods when you're working on these old buildings, you can understand how they were done blind headers and such terminology that most people today aren't aware of. You can see these jobs and how they were done, and you can better understand how they did it in those days.