Large container for Hooker Chemicals with slightly pronounced lettering.

Industrial piping at the Riegel Carolina Paper & Pulp Mill.

Silo and metal scaffolding at the Riegel Carolina Paper & Pulp Mill with a small brick shed and mounds of organic material in the distance.

ca. 1932. Hooker Electrochemical Company, circa 1932. Alcohol tank (upright at rear), top of storage tank and group of fittings. (filed with Argentum)

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma);

Hooker Electrochemical Co. also had a large plant in Niagara Falls, New York. The company was always expanding and had many smaller plants and offices throughout the United States. Since the end of World War II, they had substantially grown and were looking at the possibility of opening up an office in Vancouver, British Columbia. Exterior view of Hooker-Dextrex solvent plant, where Hooker produced chemicals PCE and TCE from 1947-1973. The water tank (safety first!) is on an adjoining shipyard property. Additional image information provided by patron.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma);

Hooker fine and heavy chemicals included: Acid chlorides, bleaching powder, metallic chlorides, muriatic acid, naphthalene derivatives, sulfide derivatives, toluene derivatives, hydrogenated products, fatty acid esters, chlorine liquids, chlorinating agents, chlorinated paraffins, caustic soda, aliphatic chlorides, benzene derivatives and benzoates. Interior view of plant and chemical producing machinery.

Machinery; Equipment; Chemicals; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma);

Philadelphia Quartz Co. gets sodium silicate, derived from silica sand, shipped here to their plant, they then manufacture silicate of soda in its various forms. They are the main suppliers of liquid mineral adhesives for the plywood and composition industries. Exterior view of the plant's liquid storage tanks and office buildings.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Storage tanks--Tacoma; Minerals; Philadelphia Quartz Co. of California (Tacoma);

Pennsalt; Plant & employees for magazine. This appears, from the large number of adding machines, to be the accounting department. Construction of the Pennsylvania Salt plant began in 1928; production of chemicals began in 1929. The 40 acre Tacoma plant was the western headquarters for the Philadelphia, Pa., parent company. Raw materials were brought to the plant by ship and rail. Pennsalt was the major consumer of city water and power.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees;

Pennsalt; Plant & employees for magazine. President and general manager Fred C. Shanaman sits at the desk. Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co., with 40 acres on the Hylebos Waterway, was one of the larger plants in the Tideflats industrial section of Tacoma. It was the Western headquarters for its parent company, the world's largest chemical manufacturing firm. The company had other branches at Portland and Bryan, Texas. Together, the three branches produced an estimated 6 million dollars worth of products annually. The main products were sodium arsenate, hydrogen & sodium hypochlorite, chlorine salt, caustic soda and DDT. These products were used in pulp, paper, plywood and soap manufacturing and in sanitation.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982;

Hooker Electrochemical Company. Railroad barge owned by Griffco and tug "Mogul" moored side by side at wharf. Barge loaded with Hooker chemical tanks. Railroad yard in background.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Barges; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Hooker Electrochemical Company. Railroad barge and tug. Barge loaded with Hooker chemical tanks. Night scene. Man walking along barge with waterway in background.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Barges; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Hooker Electrochemical Company. Railroad barge and tug "Mogul." Barge loaded with Hooker chemical tanks. Scene from waterway with railroad yard in background. Photograph is from September of 1953.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Barges; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tugboats--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Smokestack, storage tanks at Hooker Chemical Co., Tacoma, on September 10, 1951. Part of series taken that date concerning Hooker Chemical and conveyor link belt system.

Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Smokestacks--Tacoma; Storage tanks--Tacoma;

Angled view from across the street of Hooker Electrochemical's industrial facilities taken on August 24, 1951. Located in the Tideflats on Alexander Avenue, the Hooker plant underwent several large expansions throughout the years before its sale to Pioneer Companies, Inc., in the late 1990's. Hooker opened its plant in Tacoma in 1929, about the same time as the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company, and both provided the Pacific Northwest paper and pulp industry with the chlorine and caustic soda necessary for the industry's operations. Relatively cheap and abundant raw materials along with a ready labor supply, plenty of power, and convenient transportation facilities served to attract Hooker, as well as other chemical companies, to the Tacoma area. Tank cars and circular holding tanks can be seen amidst the buildings on the sprawling Hooker grounds.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Interior of new ammonia plant at Hooker Electrochemical. The $2 million anhydrous ammonia plant was completed in May of 1952. Anhydrous ammonia is ammonia in the form of a gas. It is used by firms such as the Pacific Northwest's pulp and paper mills and fertilizer and explosives manufacturing companies. By completion of the plant, the entire production was already contracted for and the plant was set for another $6 million dollar expansion to be competed by the fall of 1953. (TNT 10-19-1952)

Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

ca. 1952. Control room for production of anhydrous ammonia at the new ammonia plant, Hooker Electrochemical. Anhydrous ammonia is ammonia in the form of a gas. It is composed of three parts hydrogen to one of nitrogen. The hydrogen is obtained from electrolytic cells, which convert salt brine into caustic soda, chlorine and hydrogen. The rock salt used is obtained from the San Francisco bay area solar evaporation ponds. The nitrogen is obtained from the air by liquefying equipment manufactured by L'Aire Liquide of Montreal. (TNT 10-19-1952)

Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Hooker Electro Chemical Company. Mr. Stafford. Large tank or boiler, conical bottom, with chain around it and on top. [Also dated 08-24-1938]

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma);

Hooker Electrochemical Company. Mr. Stafford. Large Tank or boiler with legs on bottom. [Also dated 08-24-1938]

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma);

Purex-Trend (Purex Corporation LTD), exterior view of building. A low office wing is seen on the right. Semi-trailers have backed up to a loading dock on the side opposite the railroad spur.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Purex Corp. (Tacoma); Storage tanks--Tacoma;

Opening of Stauffer Chemical Company. Several of Stauffer's leaders pose for a group portrait during the opening festivities of the company's new Tacoma fertilizer plant. The company manufactured agricultural chemicals including soil sterilants, insecticides, soil conditioners, and NPP fertilizer combinations based on superphosphate. Ordered by Wilson & George Meyer & Company.

Stauffer Chemical Co. (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Business people--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Opening of Stauffer Chemical Company. Three men are enjoying a reception that was part of the opening of the new Tacoma fertilizer plant. Ordered by Wilson & George Meyer & Company.

Stauffer Chemical Co. (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Receptions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Business people--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Barthel Chemical Construction Company was the first rubber vulcanizing plant in the Pacific Northwest. The plant was constructed on the Port of Tacoma "Quadrangle" in 1950. The firm covered equipment of all types and description in the west. The vulcanizing plant was the largest north of Los Angeles. Workmen are seen here working on storage tanks. Ordered by Barthel Chemical Construction Company, Mr. Barthel. (Clippings, 11/13/1953)

Barthel Chemical Construction Co. (Tacoma); Storage tanks--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Aerial view of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company facilities in Portland, Oregon. President Fred C. Shanaman reported that with the addition of the new facilities for manufacture of chlorine, caustic soda and technical DDT, production at the Portland plant increased substantially in 1947; photo ordered by John Baker, Superintendent of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington, Tacoma plant.

Chemical industry--Oregon--Portland; Chemicals; Industrial facilities--Oregon--Portland; Aerial photographs; Aerial views; Waterfronts; Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. (Portland, Or.);

Two ships are docked at Hooker Electrochemical. A freighter with on-deck tanks has rails on either side of the ship. The rails on deck accommodated chlorine tank cars and caustic soda tank cars. Another freighter is seen on the left with the name "Mogul". In the distance, between the two ships, is a bridge over the Hylebos Waterway. Hooker Electrochemical Company held their first Board of Directors meeting in Tacoma in October 1950. The company's main offices were in Niagara Falls, New York. They had plants there and in Wilmington, California and Tacoma. (TNT, 11/2/1950, p.B-10)

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Cargo ships--Tacoma;

A freighter with two tanks on deck is docked at Hooker Electrochemical loading dock on the Hylebos Waterway. Many large storage tanks are seen at the chemical producing facility. Hooker fine and heavy chemicals included: acid chlorides, bleaching powder, metallic chlorides, muriatic acid, naphthalene derivatives, sulfide derivatives, toluene derivatives, hydrogenated products, fatty acid esters, chlorine liquids, chlorinating agents, chlorinated paraffins, caustic soda, aliphatic chlorides, benzene derivatives and benzoates.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Cargo ships--Tacoma; Storage tanks--Tacoma;

For their plant safety campaign, Kaiser Aluminum used this young unidentified bikini clad model to demonstrate the correct way to use a gas hole bar in December of 1955. Besides her swimsuit she wore fireproof covers over her shoes, thick gloves, safety glasses and a hard hat. Six metal poles labeled "pot rake, puddle rake, pot skimmer, smasher, stud straightener, gas hole bar" are on a cart behind her. A simplified painting of Kaiser's industrial facility on the tideflats, complete with Mt. Rainier, served as a backdrop. Photograph ordered by Kaiser Aluminum.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Equipment; Fashion models--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Kaiser Aluminum; exterior of new pot room building. This reduction plant will become the newest facility to receive power when the the switches are thrown to 18 new "super size pots" or electrolytic reduction cells. Power will be supplied by the Bonneville Power Administration on an interruptible basis. The 18 extra "pots" will boost the plant's production by 10 million pounds annually. (TNT 4/16/1956, pg. 21)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Kaiser Aluminum; new pot room building. Checking cathode bus, arc building. The new building contained 18 new "super size" reduction pots or electrolytic cells. These cells would boost the plant's annual production by more than 10 million pounds and increase payroll by more than $100,000. This addition will bring the corporate primary aluminum capacity in the Northwest to 429 million pounds annually. As the 5th largest employer in the state, Kaiser paid more than 31 1/2 million dollars in wages in 1955 at their Spokane and Tacoma plants. (TNT 4/16/1956, pg. 21)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Kaiser Aluminum; new pot room building. Dumping anode paste, arc building. Kaiser's newest facility contained 18 large "pots" or electrolytic cells, which would add 10 million pounds annually to plant production. Power would be supplied to the cells by the Bonneville Power Administration on a interruptible basis. (TNT 4/16/1956, pg. 21)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

ca. 1956. In 1956, an employee at Tacoma's Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. plant used an overhead crane to hold a crucible of molten aluminum and pour the liquid metal into a casting mold. The Tacoma plant was originally built in 1942 for the Olin Corporation. Kaiser took over the plant in 1946 and spent over $3 million to expand and modernize the facility in 1952. It was an aluminum reduction facility. It produced pig aluminum from treated ore. The pigs weighed either 50 or 1,000 pounds. Most were sent by rail to Kaiser's Rolling mill at Trentwood, near Spokane, where they were converted into sheets and products. Some went directly to the more than 500 independent aluminum fabricators in the Pacific Northwest, who consumed the pigs directly in the operation of their own remelt and rolling mills. Kaiser closed their Tacoma plant on the tideflats in 2000. (Kaiser Aluminum News, August 1956)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;