Designed to be used in meat processing, the aptly named butcher block is a favorite surface for countertops in the kitchen. It stands up well to contact with sharp knives — without dulling blades — ...

Today, if you have a butcher block countertop, table or cutting board in your house, chances are it came from Effingham, a town of 12,600 about an hour and a half east of St. Louis. John Boos & Co. is ...

EFFINGHAM -- It was 1887. A blacksmith in Effingham, Ill., named Conrad Boos placed the trunk of a sycamore tree on three wooden legs, which he correctly guessed would ease the stress of using his ...