St. Regis was established in Tacoma in 1928, the New York firm purchased this industrial site, modernized it and began operations in 1936. St. Regis Paper Company is said to be the most modern pulp mill ever built. The Tacoma facilities are spread out over 65 acres, between the Puyallup River Waterway and the St. Paul Lumber Company. Aerial view of St. Regis Paper Company, construction in progress.

Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Mills--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Progress photographs; Aerial photographs; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950;

St. Regis Paper Company, Tacoma's pulp mill, was constructing two major additions at their industrial site. The additions being constructed are expected to cost the company an estimated $6,000,000, this is probably the largest single industrial expansion project in Tacoma in the coming year. The expansion project began shortly after World War II ended, the project is expected to be completed in 1949. Aerial view of St. Regis Paper Company, construction in progress. TPL-5706

Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Mills--Tacoma; Logs; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Progress photographs; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Aerial photographs;

On spec. for the Times, Labor Day. Interior views of the St. Regis Paper Company. As of January 1947 St. Regis Paper Company used up to 17 million gallons of water a day in its pulp processing. The plant had many miles of piping throughout all of its processes. In December 1946 a paper machine was installed.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

On spec. for the Times, Labor Day. Interior view of the St. Regis Paper Company. From the woodroom chunks of wood were moved to wood chippers where they were broken into fine chips. These went into a hopper in the top of a digester where the chips were broken down by chemicals and the resulting pulp was washed and bleached, looking much like white snow. The paper would be nearly all water at this part of the process. It was sprayed in a thin sheet on screens where it was gradually dried out over a long roller.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

In this aerial view of the Tacoma tideflats the St. Regis Paper Company can be found at the base of the large plume of smoke and steam in the center of the picture. The St. Regis Paper Company was established in Tacoma in 1928 and rebuilt and modernized in 1936. In August 1947 the company announced plans for a $6 million addition of a Kraft paper mill and multi wall bag plant, to be operational the first quarter of 1949.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aerial photographs; Tacoma Tideflats (Tacoma);

St. Regis office, Times, Maybin. St. Regis was planning immediate construction of $6 million kraft paper and bag mills. These three key men, studying plans for the construction, are, L-R, J.H. McCarthy, plant engineer, Walter DeLong, Vice President and director, manager of Tacoma operations, and Adolph C. McCorry, plant superintendent. Piles of logs and a water tower are seen outside the windows. St. Regis had been at this location since 1936. (T.Times, 8/21/1947, p.1)

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Architectural drawings; Logs; Water towers--Tacoma--1940-1950; McCarthy, J.H.; DeLong, Walter; McCorry, Adolph C.;

In August of 1947 an unidentified "boom man", wearing "corked" boots and wielding a pikepole, was photographed sorting logs for the St. Regis Paper Company. St. Regis was established in Tacoma in 1928 and rebuilt and modernized in 1936. In August 1947 the company announced plans for a $6 million addition of a Kraft paper mill and a multi-wall bag plant. Simpson Tacoma Kraft took over the St. Regis mill in Tacoma in 1985. (On spec. for the Times, Labor Day.) TPL-9492

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Commencement Bay (Wash.); Logs;

On spec. for the Times, Labor Day. Interior views of the St. Regis Paper Company. The paper machine had variable speeds from 450 - 2,100 feet per minute according to the kind of paper being made. St. Regis expected the new paper machine to run at a rate of 2,000 feet per minute and to be capable of producing 240 tons of paper per day.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Machinery;

Interior views of the St. Regis Paper Company where pulp is being dried further (steam is coming off as the pulp goes through the roller at the rear) and looks more like paper. St. Regis Paper Company, a national company, had seven mills throughout the country and also had extensive timber holdings in the Pacific Northwest and in other locations in the United States. On spec. for the Times, Labor Day. TPL-3765

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Machinery;

On spec. for the Times, Labor Day. Interior views of the St. Regis Paper Company. William Youngchild, a veteran Tacoma papermaker with 55 years in the industry, watches rolls of pulp in one of the final processes at St. Regis mill.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Youngchild, William; Machinery;

Aerial view, taken in August of 1948, of the large St. Regis Paper Co. plant located in Tacoma's industrial Tideflats. Waterway in center is the Puyallup Waterway. St. Regis was undergoing expansion as depicted by the unfinished building in the foreground. Three years later a big new bag plant would be built, adding to Tacoma's payroll.

Aerial photographs; Aerial views; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1940-1950; Building construction--Tacoma--1940-1950; Puyallup Waterway (Tacoma);

St. Regis was one of the largest industries in Tacoma and was located in Tacoma's Tide Flats industrial area. The company was undergoing a big expansion project in 1948. This building, currently under construction, would be used to manufacture pulp. Exterior view of St. Regis Paper Company--Kraft Pulp Division industrial plant (T. Times, 8/31/48, p. 22).

Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Aerial photographs; Waterfronts; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950;

Several views of chimneys at St. Regis Paper Co. were photographed on March 24, 1954. This may have been a new chimney constructed by the Boedecker Chimney Construction Co. It was not typically black, but seems to be lighter in color. Smoke is billowing out from the top. Photograph ordered by Boedecker Chimney Construction Co.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Chimneys--Tacoma;

An aerial photograph taken in April, 1954, shows smoke billowing from the St. Regis Paper Co. facilities on the tideflats. The wide building to the right is the company's multi-wall bag plant built a few years prior; the narrow building to its rear is the kraft-pulp division. Logs are massed together in the log dump nearby.

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

An aerial view of St. Regis Paper Company plant showing the completed multi-wall bag plant (with the dark roof dotted with vents) and the narrow kraft-paper mill.

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

An aerial view of St. Regis Paper Company. Logs would be pulled up the ramp in the foreground from the log pond into the woodroom in the building close to the edge of Commencement Bay. TPL-5903

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

An aerial view of St. Regis Paper Company's completed multi-wall bag plant in the foreground with white walls, dark roof and small white chimneys dotting the roof.

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

An aerial view of St. Regis plant showing the company's new multi-wall bag plant on the right. The narrow building behind it is the kraft-pulp division. The plant is located on the Tacoma tideflats at the end of the land between the Puyallup Waterway and St. Paul Waterway. Log booms are tied together off the end of the property.

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

An elevated view of St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant showing the covered loading dock where freight cars are being loaded. The roof has been built in a series of angled sections to allow clerestory windows to provide daylight to the interior of the plant. The Middle Waterway is seen immediately adjacent to the plant and the business district of Tacoma is seen further in the distance on the right.

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

Seven men and women are operating machinery at St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant. Rolls of brown paper are seen on the far right. The paper is fed into folding machines which eject the multiple-layer tubes onto a conveyor belt on the left. Here women are removing and stacking the brown paper tubes ready for the next operation in completing the bags, sewing the ends closed.

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

Exterior of St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant on the Tacoma tideflats with Tacoma in the background.

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

Several men are adjusting the printing machinery at St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant. Bags were printed in the shop before being made into bags. A man on the right end checks the printing. Two other men further to the right are checking that the rolls of paper are feeding smoothly.

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

Four people work along side the folding machines at St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant tending the machines and gathering the sacks to stack.

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

A huge roll of brown paper at St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant is being moved using a crane manufactured by Ederer Engineering Company. The crane is located near the roof of the large warehouse and cables from the crane hold arms that grab the rolls of paper. The rolls can be moved both vertically and horizontally throughout the warehouse where tall stacks of the rolls of paper are seen.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Mills--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper--Tacoma; Hoisting machinery; Ederer Engineering Co. (Seattle); Machinery industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Many employees are working at several different machines inside St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant where bags are printed, assembled, stacked, and bundled. Overhead wiring provided electricity to run the many sewing machines and conveyor belts.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Mills--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Sewing machines;

Men are adjusting the folding machines at St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant while two women are stacking bags as they are ejected onto a conveyor belt. More rolls of paper stand at the back of the workroom ready to be moved onto the folding machines when they are needed. A crane hangs empty over them.

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

Men are loading a completed order of multiwall paper sacks at St. Regis Paper Company's new bag plant. A railroad freight car has been pulled up inside the covered loading dock at the plant and the bags, stacked on a pallet, are being delivered to the freight car with a forklift.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Mills--Tacoma--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad freight cars--Tacoma; Loading docks--Tacoma;

Another machine, a large roller type machine, is used to strip bark from logs at the St. Regis Paper plant. At the end of 1951, St. Regis reached a point where it was able to supply from its own operations virtually all of the sulphate pulp requirements, both bleached and unbleached, of its kraft paper mills. St. Regis had been experimenting at its Tacoma mill in manufacturing kraft pulp from clean waste wood chips and in 1951 was making use of this material on a considerable scale in production. (St. Regis Paper Co. 1951 Annual Report)

Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mechanical systems--Tacoma; Machinery; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;

Two men are at work at a barking machine at the St. Regis Paper Company. One man is checking the logs while the other handles the controls. The pulp mill at Tacoma was being expanded in 1950 and was expected to be completed in 1951. During 1950 St. Regis was preparing to participate in the national defense program by supplying its regular products in larger quantities for many uses related directly or indirectly to military preparations. Multi-wall bags were used for shipment of essential materials. St. Regis bags had a greater value overseas because of special papers developed to resist moisture and contamination, such as polyethylene-coated kraft paper, for which production capacity was tripled in 1940. (1950 St. Regis Paper Co. Annual Report)

Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mechanical systems--Tacoma; Machinery; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;

An elevated view of the hydraulic barking process in the wood room at the St. Regis Paper plant shows unbarked logs in the background just received from the log storage pond. Logs then pass through the hydraulic barker under 1,400-pound pressure from jets of water stripping the logs in a matter of seconds. A man is seen near the center of the photograph using a tool to remove a rough spot from the log where a limb protruded. The cleanly barked logs will move on at once to the chipper where the log will be cut into chips 3/4 inch long and 1/8 inch thick, ready to be put into digesters. (TNT, 2/17/1952; St. Regis Paper Co. 1951 Annual Report)

Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mechanical systems--Tacoma; Machinery; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;