On the evening of June 15, 1942, the sawmill at the Henry Mill & Timber Co. was fully engulfed in flames. The fire department managed to save the planer plant, warehouse and offices, but the sawmill was a complete loss. The owners swore to rebuild immediately. However, after the fire, the company's business began to consist mostly of prefabricated items for the military. (T. Times 6/16/1942, pg. 1)
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Henry Mill & Timber Co. (Tacoma); Fires--Tacoma--1940-1950;
On April 4, 1942, after several aborted attempts, the Northwest Hauling Company successfully raised a 150 foot smokestack at the new plant of Puget Sound Plywood located at 230 E. "F" Street. The huge steel stack weighed 13 tons and was constructed by Seattle Boiler Company. Once lifted into place on its 30 foot tall base, it jutted 180 feet into the air over the tideflats. The plant was expected to be fully operational in 30 days. The erection of the stack required several days of planning by the hauling company owned by Dan Cooney. Puget Sound Plywood, the first cooperative plywood plant in Tacoma, opened June 1, 1942. It had 298 members who each contributed $1,000 and received the same hourly pay and percentage of the company's profits. It was built on 3 1/2 acres at the mouth of the City Waterway. (T. Times 4/6/1942, pg. 2)
Henry Mill was located at the foot of No. Starr St., right at the waterfront. It was on the 28 acre site of the old Tacoma MIll Co. During the war, Henry Mill specialized in prefabricated elements for the military. The company was taken over in 1945 by Tacoma Lumber Fabricating Co. The photograph shows lots of stored lumber as well as a couple of cranes.
Henry Mill and Timber Company. Burner and lumber storage dock along the Tacoma waterfront. Henry Mill began operations at this site in 1925. It was formerly the site of the Old Tacoma Mill Co. TPL-8381
Henry Mill, construction of trusses. Henry Mill was located at 3001 No. Starr, the former site of the old Tacoma Mill Co. The mill was operated by John F. Buchanan, pres., and William F. Buchanan, VP. During the second World War, they became active in lumber prefabrication. Large buildings, such as hangars, were prebuilt in pieces and reassembled on arrival at their destination.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Trusses--Tacoma; Structural frames--Tacoma; Building construction--Tacoma; Henry Mill & Timber Co. (Tacoma);
Ben Cheney and an unidentified woman sit at the back of a convertible on the dock next to the "Oregon." Richard Studio notes state that this picture was taken in Oregon. The cargo ship was built by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. in Tacoma and was launched as the Cape Cleare.
Renton housing project showing the use of standardized Cheney studding. Construction is the Highlands Development, east of I-405. Photographs made for Cheney Lumber Co.
Plywood plant at Garibaldi, Oregon. This April 1, 1951, photograph shows sheets of veneer in the fine sanding process. Large pipes are for ventilation.
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)
A man, wearing a Douglas Fir Plywood Association lab coat, is adjusting the tension during plywood testing at St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber warehouse. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association, Tom Sias.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Detail showing break points of stress tests on plywood at St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber. Ordered by Dave Countryman, civil engineer with Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The exterior of the St. Paul Restaurant was located in one corner of the St. Paul Lumber Company building. A public pay telephone stands at the corner under a sign for the restaurant that slants away from the building. This photograph was taken on a cold day when snow still lay on the ground and covered the limbs of the trees and the top of the telephone booth. The restaurant was owned by S.R. and Mrs. E.J. Hull.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); St. Paul Restaurant (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma; Telephone booths--Tacoma--1950-1960; Snow--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;
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 man believed to be Arthur E. Gruhl, technician at the Fir Door Institute, tests a full sized door at the Plywood Research Foundation laboratory in September, 1951. Douglas Fir plywood was constantly being tested for durability and to maintain high standards of quality production. The Douglas Fir Plywood Association, based in Tacoma, set up the Plywood Research Foundation as an industry maintained quality control laboratory.
Plywood Research Foundation (Tacoma); Plywood; Doors & doorways--Tacoma; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Laboratories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma--1950-1960;
A St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company employee checks his inventory sheet of wooden gutters which are being prepared for shipment in August, 1951. The gutters will be hoisted on board a vessel at the St. Paul & Tacoma dock. St. Paul not only shipped finished gutters but squared off lumber and plywood as well.
St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gutters (Roofs)--Tacoma;
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;
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);
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;
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;
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;
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)
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);
