Prince Lumber
Prince Lumber, 406 W. 15th St. near 9th Ave. (2001)

Prince Lumber derives its name from Prince St. This ad dates from 1924 when they were still in their original location, 130 Prince St. near Wooster. The business was approx. 78 years old when the picture above was taken in 2001.

Founders were the brothers Gaetano Apicella (1878-1939) and Vincenzo Apicella (1884-1967). They both seem to have immigrated around 1901 from Franti(?) in the province of Salerno, Italia. Gaetano Apicella registered for the World War I draft (1918) while he owned a fruit store on Thompson St. in Greenwich Village. Both brothers appear in the 1920 U. S. Census while living at 180 Prince St. Gaetano gave his occupation as "fruit store." Vincenzo (now called Vincent) gave his as "laborer lumber yard."

Prince Lumber first appears in the Manhattan telephone directory in 1923. They were located at 76 W. Houston St. from 1925 to 1951, then at 532 West Broadway (renamed LaGuardia Place in the late 1960s) from 1951 to 1989. They opened this location at 406 W. 15th St. in 1984. As of June 2007 Prince Lumber maintains a web site at http://www.princelumber.com/.

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