Shadows darken the interior of Tacoma Boat Building as dim figures of spectators stand and gaze upon the A.M.S. #96 afloat in the distance. The 144-foot mindsweeper was the fourth of five being built by Tacoma Boat Building. The ship had just been launched the late afternoon of May 1, 1953. The launching was captured on television; it was the first launching to be televised in the area. (TNT 5-3-53, B-10)
Launchings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Government vessels--Tacoma--1950-1960; Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma);
ca. 1953. St. Regis Paper Co.--Florida. St. Regis continued to expand its base of business to include the southern portion of the United States. Besides the "Kraft center" in Pensacola, Florida, St. Regis also built a new kraft paper and board mill, including pulp manufacturing facilities, in Jacksonville in 1952-53. View of multi-glassed office building in Jacksonville with St. Regis logo; it may have been the administrative offices of the company there.
St. Regis Paper Co. (Jacksonville, Fl.)--1950-1960; Paper industry--Jacksonville--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Jacksonville--1950-1960;
Interior of Florida St. Regis plant. A huge metallic duct connects to a Worthington machine inside the Jacksonville, Florida, St. Regis Paper Co. facility. Brick walls and tanks are in the background. The Jacksonville kraft and pulp mill began to operate in January, 1953. It soon added to St. Regis' total kraft paper and board production which totaled 486,000 tons in 1953. This was a 38% increase over the previous year. Photograph ordered by Stebbins Engineering & Manufacturing Co. (1953 St. Regis Annual Report, p. 10)
St. Regis Paper Co. (Jacksonville, Fl.)--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Jacksonville--1950-1960; Machinery;
Two enormous storage tanks, made of brick and concrete, were part of the Jacksonville, Florida, St. Regis Paper Co. plant in 1953. These tanks could have held chips or pulp. The Jacksonville kraft and pulp mill would undergo expansion, to be completed in 1957, to include a 1000-ton board machine which manufactured kraft board for the corrugated shipping container market. The enlarged mill would have more than four times as much pulp capacity as was originally built. Photograph ordered by the Stebbins Engineering & Manufacturing Co. (1955 St. Regis Annual Report, p. 10)
St. Regis Paper Co. (Jacksonville, Fl.)--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Jacksonville--1950-1960; Storage tanks;
ca. 1953. St. Regis Paper Co. plant. The above photograph was taken of the Jacksonville, Florida, St. Regis plant in 1953, one of many that were located in the United States and abroad. Plants were carefully planned to have both rail and water transportation readily available. The new Jacksonville mill started production in January, 1953. Corrugating and liner boards were produced in tons. The one paper machine was being modified so that it could produce lightweight kraft papers as well as heavy boards. (1953 St. Regis Annual Report, p. 10)
St. Regis Paper Co. (Jacksonville, Fl.)--1950-1960; Paper industry--Jacksonville--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Jacksonville--1950-1960;
ca. 1953. Close-up view of holding tanks at St. Regis; photograph probably taken in 1953. These tanks appear to be inter-connected with metal pipes leading from one tank to another. They may have contained pulp which would be pumped either to a plant to be bleached, to the paper mill to be made into paper or converted into pulp sheets. In another instance, the tanks might also have contained the black liquor which is removed from the pulp after much washing. Photograph ordered by IMPCO. (TNT 2-17-52, C-11)
New improvements in technology are responsible for kraft and board machines that can operate at speeds up to 1500 feet per minute and can produce a sheet that can be trimmed to 212 inches in width. These high production machines helped St. Regis Paper Co. to increase total tonnage of kraft paper and boards, thereby solidifying its position as a dependable long-term source of these products to industry customers. View of interior of Florida St. Regis plant, either in Jacksonville or Pensacola. Photograph ordered by Beloit Iron Works, Beloit, Wisconsin. (1955 St. Regis Annual Report, p. 15)
St. Regis Paper Co.; Paper industry; Machinery; Beloit Iron Works (Beloit, WI);
Interiors of A.M.S. #113 (minesweeper) built at Tacoma Boat Building. Crew and Chief Petty Officer lavatory, looking to starboard. The #113 was scheduled to be the first of Tacoma Boat's 144 foot minesweepers to be delivered. The delivery was scheduled for November 6th, after outfitting at the Naval Station. The vessel would be delivered to the French Navy. (TNT 10/25/1953, pg. B-3)
Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Crew quarters; Warships--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Interiors of A.M.S. #113 (minesweeper) built at Tacoma Boat Building. Aft crew quarters. Cots fold up for more space or down for sleeping. Built in foot lockers stand at the rear of the bunks. The delivery of Tacoma Boat's first minesweeper, the 113, was scheduled for November 6th, 1953. The 144 foot minesweeper was outfitted at the Naval Station before its delivery to the French Navy under the mutual aid program. (TNT 10/25/1953, pg. B-3)
Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Crew quarters; Warships--Tacoma--1950-1960;
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;
ca. 1953. Launching of naval ship #445, the U.S.S. Force, with the skyline of downtown Tacoma in the background. The all wood craft was the fourth of nine contracted 171 foot Naval minesweepers to be built by J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding. Mrs. Thomas D. Wilson, wife of a Navy Captain, served as sponsor and christened the ship with the ceremonial champagne. The band from the U.S.S. Essex played "Anchors Aweigh" as the ship slid down the ways. (TNT 6/21/1953, pg. B-2 & 6/27/1953, pg. 1)
Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel, steel in railroad boxcars being loaded onto Foss tugs for shipment to Alaska. This is the first shipment in a service announced jointly by Alaska Governor B. Frank Heintzleman and Henry Foss, president of Foss tugs. Foss will load railroad cars aboard the Foss 250, a car barge with transportation service to Alaska, at the Milwaukee Railroad's dock on the Milwaukee waterway. This marks the first time that railroad cars will come out of Alaska after discharging their cargo. The car barge will be towed by the tug Justine Foss. In the future, the car barges will leave every 8-10 days. (TNT 7/5/1953, pg. B-3)
Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel, steel in railroad boxcars being loaded onto Foss tugs. The current service extends to Ward Cove, 8 miles north of Ketchikan, and site of the $47,000,000 construction project by Ketchikan Pulp & Paper Co. The eight 53 ft. cars, containing steel primarily, will be emptied at Ward Cove and returned to Tacoma. The Foss 250 can carry twenty 40 foot cars on her four sets of tracks and bulk tanks have been built in the barge hull to carry 1,000 tons of caustic soda north for paper plant production. The one way trip to Ward Cove takes 3 1/2 - 4 days. (TNT 7/5/1953, pg. B-3)
Bulk feed is being poured into plywood storage units at the Ken Bergman Poultry farm on May 13, 1953. The feed is being delivered by the Washington Co-op Farmers Association using their Diamond T double-tank truck. Washington Co-op Farmers was able to provide home delivery of bulk feed to its members, as well as other bulk deliveries such as petroleum and gasoline. Bulk deliveries could then be stored in appropriate facilities until needed by the customer. Photograph ordered by Tom Sias, Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Washington Cooperative Farmers Association (Tacoma); Storage tanks; Plywood; Shipping; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
A long fleet of Ford and Chevrolet trucks stands ready to go outside the Columbia Breweries plant in May, 1953. They would be used to deliver very popular brands Columbia Ale and Heidelberg beer to waiting customers. Columbia Breweries, after much expansion, would be the largest brewery north of San Francisco and west of Milwaukee. In July, 1953, it would change its name to Heidelberg Brewing Co. and be purchased by Carling Brewery in 1959. After being a Tacoma fixture since 1900, it would finally close its doors in 1979. TPL-9289
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Heidelberg Brewing Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Aerial view of American Smelting & Refining Co.'s (ASARCO) smokestack, smelter plant and surrounding area. ASARCO occupied a large area near Point Defiance and contributed greatly to Tacoma's economy in the fifties. As we know now, the by products of the smelting process were highly toxic, and qualified this area as a Superfund clean up area. TPL-9290
American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1950-1960; Copper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp. A variety of bars and structural shapes are rolled on the 12 inch and 8 inch finishing mills. The hot steel is looped by hand from one set of rolls to the next, until it is rolled to finished size and shape. Three finishing mills at the Seattle plant turn out bars and structural shapes in hundreds of different sizes and shapes. Hot steel billets are fed directly into these mills were grooved rolls transform them into angles, channels, I-beams, rounds, squares, flats, strip, reinforcing bars and special sections. ("Bethlehem Coast Steel, in the Northwest" - brochure)
St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company milled lumber used by 20th Century Construction Company in building DeLong School. View from off-site of building under construction with rough framing and roof beams in place.
St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company milled lumber used by 20th Century Construction Company in building DeLong School. Interior view of office building or house. Plan for school on panel; signs leaning against wall describing concrete subfloors.
Washington Coop Farmers Association, a truck carrying bulk feeds being filled directly from the feed mill. Built on 8 1/2 acres on the Hylebos Waterway, the feed mill was one of the most modern structures in the country. The Coop used both trucks and railroads to move its product across the country .
Washington Cooperative Farmers Association (Tacoma); Grain elevators--Tacoma; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Hooker Electrochemical Company; railroad barge and tug. Barge, with Vancouver B.C. registration, loaded with Hooker chemical tanks being pulled by tug from the waterway on a cloud covered, gray day. Tacoma Boatbuilding Co. is prominent in the background.
Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Barges; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;
A young man, with the assistance of his family, is building a 20 ft. cabin cruiser in his back yard. The young man saws the plywood that he is using for the frame of the boat while listening to his tow headed son. Photo series ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association to promote the use of plywood in boat building. The Association was a group formed to promote the use of plywood as the world's number 1 building material. TPL-9921
A young man, with the assistance of his family, is building a 20 ft. cabin cruiser in his back yard. He is building the boat out of plywood. Photograph series ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association to promote the use of plywood for boats. TPL-9920
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;
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company facilities, Portland. Exterior of office building, modern Colonial-style building with second story dormers and cupola on roof. Note: Lines in print due to diacetate film deterioration.
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. (Portland, Or.); Chemical industry--Oregon--Portland--1940-1950;
Fred H. Gillmaster retired from Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. He is seen here tending his indoor plants as carefully as he tended the grounds and plants at Penn Salt. He and his wife, Ethel N. Gillmaster, lived at 501 East 43rd Street.
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--People; Gillmaster, Fred H.; Plants--Tacoma;
