Robert A. Long

Who was Robert A. Long?

Robert Alexander Long was a lumber baron, developer, investor, newspaper owner, and philanthropist. He lived most of his life in Kansas City, Missouri and founded Longview, Washington and Longville, Louisiana.

By 1906, Long owned 250,000 acres of pine in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana and converted it into 61 lumberyards. As the timber land was deforested in Louisiana, he moved west to the state of Washington and bought 270,000 acres of Douglas fir. There he became a pioneer in reforestation. Long eventually owned many acres of land and buildings, spanning the United States from Washington D.C. to the state of Washington.