The original Diamond Match Lumber Co. building was destroyed in the fire of 1924. Six months later the present building opened as a hardware store, with pressed concrete walls and a pressed tin ceiling typical of fire measures taken when the town was rebuilt. As early as 1870, lumber mills were built in the Mendocino National Forest, and forty-two mills in or adjacent to the National Forest contributed to the wealth of the community. By the 1970's, the main stand of timber had been removed or lost to fire, and little was left to be harvested.