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)

Launchings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. (Tacoma);

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)

Steel industry; Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp. (Seattle); Foss Launch & Tug Co. (Tacoma); Tugboats--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad freight cars--Tacoma--1950-1960;

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)

Steel industry; Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp. (Seattle); Foss Launch & Tug Co. (Tacoma); Tugboats--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad freight cars--Tacoma--1950-1960;

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)

Factories; Steel industry; Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp. (Seattle); ;

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

Boat & ship industry; Carpentry; Woodworking;

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

Boat & ship industry; Carpentry; Woodworking; Plywood;

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;

A group visiting Columbia Breweries from Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. They pose in front of their bus outside the Winthrop Hotel.

Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma);

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;

A view of the exterior of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company's facilities showing the proximity of the railroad spur to one of the buildings. A stack is seen over the building. Pennsalt's expansion program begun in 1951 was to include four structures, the largest of which was to be an 80 x 120-foot section of the primary production room. (TNT, 7/29/1951)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad tank cars--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad sidings--Tacoma;

The exterior of the Georgia Pacific Plywood Company building in Olympia, Washington. The two-story building with a flat roof reflects 1950's styling and architecture. A smoke stack with the letters "GP" on it can be seen on the left.

Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Georgia Pacific Plywood Co. (Olympia);

A stark office in the Georgia Pacific Plywood Company building in Olympia provides desks and equipment for fourteen people. Each desk has been provided with a calculator in the middle of the desk with a waste can to catch the tape as it runs from the machine. Telephones are seen on a few of the desks and most of them also have a typewriter on a pull-out shelf on the left. Florescent lighting provides a bright overhead light. Companies were attempting to apply assembly-line techniques to office work.

Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Georgia Pacific Plywood Co. (Olympia); Offices--Olympia;

An aerial view of the new multiwall bag plant at St. Regis. The plant was completely equipped to produce a full range of multiwall bags. Equipment included six production lines, three printing presses, a complete art and engraving department and auxiliary equipment. This plant replaced a leased plant in Seattle. (TNT, 10/19/1952)

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Aerial photographs; Mills--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

An aerial view on February 16, 1952, showing the new multiwall bag plant at St. Regis. St. Regis also had other bag plants on the Pacific Coast at Los Angeles and San Leandro, California. The company also maintained complete engineering and service facilities for automatic bag filling equipment, including a machine shop at Los Angeles, and packer sales and engineering offices at San Francisco and Seattle. The company was self-contained on the west coast. (TNT, 10/19/1952)

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Aerial photographs; Mills--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

An aerial view of the new multiwall bag plant at St. Regis. The expansion of the bag plant facilities by St. Regis reflected the continuing trend of industry and agriculture to use the multiwall shipping sack. It was estimated that approximately 2 1/2 billion multiwall bags were used in 1951 for all types of products, compared with less than half a billion in 1938. The multiwall bag came into general use as an industrial container in the mid 1920's and was used for packaging cement and other rock products. Shortly thereafter is was adopted by the sugar industry. (TNT, 10/19/1952)

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Aerial photographs; Mills--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Exposure of wood working equipment for auction at Wheeler-Osgood Sash & Door Co. liquidation. The door and plywood plant in Tacoma was sold for approximately $650, 000 for the purposes of liquidation. The factory opened in 1889, and went out of business in 1952. During the interim, the company was one of the largest door plants in the world and an important part of Tacoma's lumber manufacturing industry. The building itself burned down in July of 1959. (TNT 2-26-1952, pg. 1)

Machinery; Wheeler, Osgood Co. (Tacoma); Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

St. Regis Paper Company. Construction progress. New bag plant. Interior of warehouse. Machinery, boxes, scaffolding, exposed mechanical system on ceiling. This is possibly the big bag plant at 801 Portland Ave. which was part of St. Regis' expansion in the 1950s.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Large piece of equipment, the "Challoner 790", for auction at Wheeler Osgood factory liquidation. The door manufacturer closed its doors in 1952 and liquidated all assets. Certain former employees of the plant announced that they intended to form a co-operative to acquire and operate the factory, after the new owners announced their intention to liquidate. This move was opposed by the Lumber and Sawmill Worker's union and never came to fruition. Other companies that looked at the plant included Boeing, who were looking for a warehouse for its Seattle factory. The building was finally scheduled for demolition when no sale went through and burned down during the process in July of 1959. (TNT 2-26-1952, pg. 1)

Wheeler, Osgood Co. (Tacoma); Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Machinery; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Large desk with 2 swivel chairs behind it, 4 other chairs and a sofa. Exposures of office furniture for auction at Wheeler Osgood factory liquidation. Once the world's largest manufacturer of doors, the factory went out of business in 1952 and was sold for liquidation for approximately $650,000. The company suffered from labor troubles, reorganization and finally a strike by the Lumber and Sawmill Workers' union. (TNT 2-26-1952, pg. 1)

Wheeler, Osgood Co. (Tacoma); Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Office furniture; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Elevated view of Tacoma Fire Station No. 16 under construction. Workers install roof sheathing by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Narrows Bridge and old Highway 16 in background. Area just being developed. This $24,000 structure at 6th Ave and Meyer St. was dedicated on July 20, 1952. The 12 man crew and one engine provided fire protection to the Highlands district from Stevens St. to the Narrows bridge and also to University Place. This building was razed and replaced in 1999.

Plywood industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Carpentry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Construction--Tacoma--1950-1960; Fire stations--Tacoma; Tacoma Fire Department, Fire Station No. 16 (Tacoma);