The John Lucas Tree Expert Company was founded in 1926 in Portland, Maine, by John Lucas (pictured, right) with a truck, ladder, climbing ropes, and a hand saw.  Working with local power and telephone companies, he participated in the expansion of utility services in rural Maine.

When John Lucas died prematurely in 1931, the small but established company was purchased by W.H. Hinman, who expanded contracts with the utility companies, venturing into transmission line and underground conduit construction and right of way clearing for fuel pipe lines.

During World War II, the company's work expanded to include the laying of marine cables for military outpost installations in the Casco Bay Islands.  

After the war, the industry went through revolutionary changes--power saws were introduced, tractors replaced horses in line construction, and chemical brush control programs were begun along power line and pipe line rights-of-way.

In the 60s, aerial bucket trucks revolutionized the business again.  (The company now operates over 200 of them.)   The Lucas Tree Experts current headquarters complex was constructed on a 22-acre lot on Riverside Street in Portland. In the following decade, Lucas Tree first offered residential services.

Over the past two decades, the company was purchased by the Arthur Batson family, and operations continued to expand.  The company now offers residential lawncare services, sells Tree Tech Microinjection products to regional arborists for the care of shade trees.  The Lucas Tree Expert Company has participated in harvesting timber on national forest lands as well as in forest management projects for several regional forestry companies, and continues to provide leadership in developing new techniques for vegetation control on power line and pipe line rights-of-way.   

Satellite offices have opened in New Hampshire, Vermont, South Carolina, Nova Scotia, and Alberta, to help manage the expanding service area.