St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company Office Building and Retail Store. Large 2-1/2 story log chalet-type building originally designed for the John Dower Lumber Company by George W. Bullard of Bullard and Mason, Architects, 1921. The lumber industry in Tacoma was established in 1888 by timber magnate Col. Chauncey W. Griggs who began one of Tacoma's first major sawmills on Commencement Bay.Tacoma rapidly became "The Lumber Capital of the World." The St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. also supplied the logs for the St. Regis pulp mill and established America's first tree farm in 1940, setting the standard for reforestation. One of Tacoma's pioneer industries, it also had a plant on the Tideflats and an annual payroll in the million dollar bracket.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Retail stores--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);
Grosvenor House apartments, 500 No. Wall, Seattle, under construction. Photo for Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Photograph was taken on March 5, 1950.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Grosvenor House Apartments (Seattle); Construction--Seattle; Apartment houses--Seattle; Progress photographs--1950-1960;
Several Rucker Bros. trucks loaded with lumber at the St. Paul & Tacoma retail yard. The retail yard was the largest in the Northwest. Rucker Brothers Trucking was located at the retail yard, facilitating the delivery of the wood throughout the Northwest.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Rucker Brothers (Tacoma); Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960;
A worker at the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. retail yard walks on top of a large piece of timber, preparing to hook up the hoisting machinery to it, and move it from the truck to a stack of lumber. St Paul's three mile long lumber yard was believed to be the largest in the world by the 1940's. St. Paul was a pioneer in the plywood industry, and also in reforestation.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Hoisting machinery;
Rucker Brothers lumber truck at St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. sawmill. Photographer, possibly from Richards, is standing on top of the truck cab probably photographing the other pictures in this series. Work seems to have stopped as lumber employees stand and watch the show.The hoisting machinery used to move the timber off of the truck can be see at the right rear of the picture.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Photographers--Tacoma;
St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. lumber yard where hoisting machinery moves a long piece of lumber from one location to another. St. Paul & Tacoma, established in 1888, was one of the first sawmills on Commencement Bay.The company prospered until its MIll "C," located on the Thea Foss Waterway, became the largest in the world, cutting a million board feet of timber a day.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Hoisting machinery;
Frozen food lockers were manufactured by St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company at Coast Sash and Door Company using plaster-faced plywood. A workman inspects the fit of the door in its sash. Coast Sash and Door opened at this location on the Tacoma tideflats in 1924. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association, John Ritchie.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Coast Sash & Door Co. (Tacoma); St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Doors & doorways--Tacoma; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The trucks advertise the company's fur service. The trucks are painted in two tones, light colored bodies with darker fenders. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association, Hal Dixon.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Dodge trucks; Cleaning establishments--Tacoma;
Progress photograph at the Narrows Bridge construction site showing prefab of plywood forms. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the third longest suspension span in the world at the time it was built. Both towers of the bridge are seen in the background. Until the full weight of the deck was in place the tops of the two towers leaned about 3 feet toward the shore. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. (TNT, 5/28/1950, p.1)
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Bridges--Tacoma; Progress photographs; Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Tacoma);
Annual convention of Douglas Fir Plywood Association at the Winthrop Hotel. Four unidentified men stand in front of charts with production numbers. Ordered by Mr. McCallum.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma); Meetings--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Nelson S. Perkins, of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. In the late forties, Perkins, then a young brilliant civil engineer, was hired to head up the DFPA'S technical and engineering department. This was a position that he would hold for many years. In 1959, he was promoted to a liason position between the member mills and the DFPA. (" The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour, TNT 3/18/1959, pg. A-14)
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Perkins, Nelson;
Two men are constructing a silo by nailing sheets of plywood to an exterior form built with a circular shape cut from plywood and 2 x 4 lumber. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Silos--Tacoma;
A new Coe lathe was installed at the Puget Sound Plywood Company plant on Tacoma's tideflats in 1950. Four unidentified employees at the plant monitored the giant lathe which was used to peel a continuous sheet of thin veneer off a prepared log. The veneer sheets were then glued together to make plywood. When the Puget Sound Plywood plant at 230 East F Street was built in 1942, Tacoma was a major plywood manufacturing center with over half a dozen plywood factories. Puget Sound Plywood was the first cooperative plywood plant in Tacoma.
Puget Sound Plywood, Inc. (Tacoma); Lathes; Plywood; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Cooperatives--Tacoma;
Workers at the Puget Sound Plywood company gaze at the new plywood lathe in a photograph taken on September 13, 1950. Puget Sound Plywood was located near Foss Launch & Tug Company at 230 East "F" Street. The new plant was completed in mid-1942.
Workers at the Puget Sound Plywood company carefully maneuver a gigantic log into position by use of a hoist on September 13, 1950. These logs would eventually be turned into plywood panels and other plywood products. Puget Sound Plywood's plant was located at 230 East F Street; built in 1942, it was the first cooperative plywood plant in Tacoma.
Logs are being prepared to be turned into plywood at the Puget Sound Plywood company's plant on East F Street. A new lathe was purchased in 1950 to apparently speed and modernize production. Puget Sound Plywood was Tacoma's first cooperative plywood plant, formed in 1942.
Cold room constuction, Douglas Fir Plywood Association laboratory, Dave Countryman. Worker installing plywood panels on walls of foil insulated room on October 31, 1950.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
Cold room constuction, Douglas Fir Plywood Association laboratory, Dave Countryman. Worker installing plywood panels on walls of foil insulated room on Halloween, 1950.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
The inside of a wooden demonstration case contains wooden moldings strapped in place and ready for display. Case was photographed on January 9, 1951. Ordered by St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber, Corydon Wagner, Jr.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Showcases;
The outside of a wooden demonstration case with a leather handle and metal clasps is shown. The lower corners have been protected with metal corners. A logo for St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. has been painted on the side. Ordered by St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber, Corydon Wagner, Jr.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Showcases;
Plywood veneer production for Bellingham Plywood Company. Exterior type fir plywood panels for boats and other outdoor uses are fed into a giant hot press. Heat and pressure "cure" the phenolic resin adhesive, producing an irreversible bond between the plys stronger than the wood itself. By 1950, there were 67 plywood mills in operation producing 2,553,652,000 feet of plywood. ("The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour)
Peeler log being rotated in a lathe and cut into veneer at Bellingham Plywood Company. In an effort to get the most from a stand of timber, select peeler logs are used in the production of plywood; less perfect logs are used for lumber. After barking, the peeler log is rotated in a lathe. The log "unwinds" against a knife in a continuous strip of veneer. The strips are then held temporarily in multi-decked storage trays 150 feet long or more. After the veneer has been sorted, a 150 foot steam heated oven brings its moisture content down to a uniformly low level. ("The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour)
Plywood veneer production at the Bellingham Plywood Company. After the veneer is cut from the peeler log and the moisture content is regulated, the veneer is again graded. At the glue spreader, the cross-banding veneer is covered with an even coat of glue and sheets are assembled with alternate dry veneer in three, five and seven ply panels. Workers pictured above are building up the layers of plywood. Man to the far right is the glue machine operator, a highly skilled position. ("The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour)
Plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. This April 1, 1951, photograph shows sheets of veneer in the fine sanding process. Large pipes are for ventilation.
Plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. Exterior type fir plywood panels for boats and other outdoor uses are fed into a giant hot press. Heat and pressure "cure" the phenolic resin adhesive producing a irreversible bond between the plys stronger than the wood itself. One of the most important steps in plywood technology was the discovery in the 30's of a waterproof glue that made plywood resistant to extremes of temperature and moisture and a stronger product than the original wood. Exterior fir plywood with waterproof bond is tested by boiling for hours, drying and boiling again. Under the industry's quality control program, 500,000 random production line samples were tested annually in the manufacturers two labs. ("The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour")
Peeler log at the plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. Logs used to make plywood are called "peelers," reflecting the production process where a thin layer of wood called a veneer is peeled from the log on a massive lathe. Peeler logs are the best quality logs in the forrest. After the outside bark is removed, the peeler log is rotated in a lathe. The log rotates against a razor sharp knife, peeling a continuous sheet of thin veneer. The veneer is held temporarily in multi-decked storage trays 150 feet long or more. ("The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour)
Temporary multi-deck storage racks at plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. Note conveyor belt on racks; each rack had a conveyor belt on which the thin veneer from the peelers was laid. Workers would feed veneer onto each shelf. As each rack was filled, it would be shifted so that there was always an empty rack to fill.
Finished plywood goes out for shipment by truck from the plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. All plywood is carefully inspected and graded to national standards, marked as to quality and carefully packaged for shipment. In the fifties, the fir plywood industry ranked among the most important in the Pacific Northwest. In Oregon, Washington and the northern part of California, the Douglas fir grew and provided a livelihood for many thousands. The best of this fir was taken to more than 100 mills in these states and peeled into veneer from which plywood is made. Fir plywood panels were called "America's busiest building material" and business boomed after World War II.
Aerial view of the plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. The log boom can be seen in the foreground. The best of the Douglas Fir from the Northwest's forests in brought into the mills to be barked, peeled, dried and coated with waterproof glue to produce plywood, America's #1 building material.
Interior of Oregon Washington plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. Stacks of odds and ends of wood dot the floor of this mostly empty warehouse. The warehouse seems to echo emptily with its exposed beams and hanging fluorescent lighting. Some strips of veneer are less than four feet wide. These are also dried and then edge-glued together into a continuous sheet and cut to panel size. ("The Challenge of Wood" BCFP's 1979 Annual Report)
