L.J. Smith

We are honored to have this opportunity to share with you a little bit of our history, as well as some information about the quality and craftsmanship we build into our products every day.

L.J. Smith¡¯s heritage of American craftsmanship reaches far back in time. It all began in 1885, when a gentleman, by the name of L.J. Smith, began making stair parts and staircases in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1911, he moved his family to Conotton, Ohio, to continue the stairway business as ¡°L.J. Smith and Son.¡± L.J. Smith and his son, along with seven other craftsmen, were very busy keeping up with the demand for their meticulously crafted circular stairways that were going into large homes throughout the south.

Following the death of L.J. Smith, in 1942, the company continued to thrive under the leadership of his son until, in 1977, the Smith family sold the business.

The following decade offered tremendous growth opportunities for the company. The rising demand for our circular stairways and stair parts lead to the construction of a new and much larger manufacturing facility located near Bowerston, Ohio, in 1989.

The new facility was utilized for the manufacturing of stair parts, while the original structure was renovated to accommodate the custom stair division of L.J. Smith, Inc.

Since 1991, L.J. Smith has made many strategic acquisitions and currently has 6 locations, four of which are complete manufacturing facilities, throughout the country in order to meet the needs of their valued customers.

Today, L.J. Smith is the largest stair parts manufacturing company in the country. Our continued growth over the past several decades is clearly a result of our leadership role in developing and taking to market new and innovative products & techniques. We have patents or patents pending on nearly two dozen products and processes.