By 1922, after the railroad grew beyond the state, L.L. decided to move his operation to Eaton County and established a permanent circular sawmill and planing mill in Charlotte. Now his operation was closer to the growing automobile businesses in Lansing and Flint, which needed lumber for making cars and trucks. During the late 1920s, however, when steel started to replace wood in cars, L.L. looked to the furniture factories of Grand Rapids as a new market for the lumber he was harvesting.

At the same time, his son Darrel graduated from Albion College and worked for a lumber company in Ohio, gaining valuable experience about the business. By 1928, Darrel returned to Michigan to become a partner with his dad. Together they planned how to grow their business and meet the growing demand of lumber from the furniture factories in Grand Rapids. Bleached maple furniture was all the rage and fueled the booming furniture business of the state. To meet this growing market for maple, L.L. and Darrel replaced their original circular saw with a new band sawmill, built dry kilns, and established warehouse facilities.

Fittingly, the business was incorporated in 1966 as the L.L. Johnson Lumber Manufacturing Company, honoring its founder. Now in its fourth generation, the company continues to grow, but in different directions. The mill still saws logs, but for wholesale log customers. The lumber L.L. Johnson sells today comes from resources throughout the world as kiln-dried graded lumber. Also the company operates two retail outlets (Charlotte, MI and South Bend, IN), supplying woodworkers and professionals throughout the country with fine tools and accessories.

After 100 years, the business L.L. Johnson started in that plentiful stand of timber continues to grow, building that legacy of hard work, honesty, and devotion to servicing our customers and delivering a quality product.