The National Hardwood Lumber Association ! Founded ! Abbreviation ! Headquarters ! Industry ! Website The National Hardwood Lumber Association ( NHLA ) was founded on April 8th , 1898 in Chicago , Illinois to establish uniformity of inspecting hardwood lumber . The NHLA is now a membership-based trade association that serves two main purposes : to stimulate economic activity and to provide a vehicle for the members to collectively strive for mutual benefit . The NHLA has continued to be a national voice for the hardwood industry . Due to the Great Fire of 1871 , NHLA was unable to erect their own offices in 1898 , therefore they first established themselves in a dimly lit office of the Chicago Hardwood Lumber Exchange , where the first meeting of the 37 founders took place on April 8 , 1898 . The cities represented at this meeting were Cincinnati , OH ; Chicago , IL ; Boston , MA ; Minneapolis , MN ; Memphis , TN ; Cairo , IL ; St. Louis , MO ; and Racine , WI . This array of attendance showed the critical situation which was threatening the industry through lack of uniform grading rules . William A. Bennett of Bennett & Witte Company was elected the first President of NHLA and immediately appointed a committee to draft the first rules for inspection . The first Rules Committee met with 59 firms and nine markets represented , and the committee established the first standardized set of hardwood lumber grading rules
Great Fire of 1871
Great Chicago Fire
National Hardwood Lumber Association