1881 Michigan Maple Block Pioneered the development of the butcher block. At the time the block was called the "sanitary meat block" and was developed to meet the needs of butchers around the world. Prior to the invention of the butcher block meat was cut on tree rounds, sections of trunk which had one major problem, they cracked. By cutting boards into smaller strips and re-gluing them in a particular pattern stability could be achieved. This is precisely what Michigan Maple Block Co. developed.