Permanente Metals took over the Olin Aluminum facilities, that had shut down in November 1945, these facilities had not been in use until now. Kaiser bought the plant from the United States War Assets Administration, they then invested over one million dollars to modernize the plant. The Tacoma plant featured many self cleaning machines and a knowledgeable staff (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Control rooms--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

View of new pot line at the Tacoma reduction plant of the Permanente Metals Corp. It is the first reduction plant in the world to be thoroughly equipped with a scrubber system. This equipment is able to automatically wash away the fumes that are given off in the reduction process. The system consists of individual collectors connected to each pot and several washing stations. Permanente staff can be seen in the center area of the reduction plant.

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Equipment; Machinery; Control rooms--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma);

Permanente would be producing 42,000,000 pounds of pure aluminum per year at the Tacoma plant. Tacoma's output will supplement the Mead Reduction plant near Spokane, Washington. Permanente Metals delayed their plant opening, until the newest generator of the Grand Coulee power plant was in operation. View of Permanente technicians checking equipment (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Control rooms--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

Permanente Metals Tacoma plant was a modern aluminum reduction plant. The plant had two pot lines that produced about 42,000,000 pounds of aluminum per year. This plant was located in the Tide Flats area and was spread over 129 acres, the plant went into official production on October 31, 1947. View of Permanente employee using the time clock (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Time; Time clocks; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

Permanente Metals began production at their newly equipped aluminun plant on Taylor Way in Tacoma on October 31, 1947. Permanente purchased the former Olin Corp. facility, built in 1942, from the federal government and spent two years modernizing the plant. The remodeled Tacoma plant was the first in the nation to have self cleaning reduction pots with scrubbing systems, minimizing pollution released into the environment (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Laborers--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

The Pacific Northwest offered Permanente Metals, the producers of Kaiser aluminum, inexpensive hydro-electric power. In order to produce one pound of aluminum approximately 10 kilowatts of electricity is needed, therefore the Northwest is the ideal location for the Tacoma and Mead, near Spokane, plants. Interior view of the pot room, the white powdery substance is alumina, which is discharged into the reduction pots, the molten aluminum is siphoned from the pots into one and a half ton ladles (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Laborers--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

The Tacoma plant of the Permanente Metals Corporation accomplished its first casting of "pigs" from molten metal in November of 1947. Plant employees in the pot room were photographed getting the newly molten metal in the ladle ready to pour into a mold to form pigs. Cast pigs could weigh from fifty and one thousand pounds depending on size and composition. Once cooled, the pigs were stacked on pallets and transported to the rolling mill at Trentwood, located near Spokane, Washington. The pigs from the Mead and Tacoma plant would later be re-melted in furnaces where other metallic elements were added to form standard alloys. Tacoma's Permanente plant produced aluminum in commercial quantities for Henry J. Kaiser's industrial operations. (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948; T.Times 11-19-47, p. 18-alt. photograph & article).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

Lumber Grappel being made for Weyerhauser Timber Company, Star Iron and Steel, George Buckingham. This lumber grapple was built to be operated by one man. It could run on direct or alternating current. It handled 7 1/2 tons of packaged lumber, to be picked up in any position and placed exactly where required. Leslie E. Jensen, Star's Chief Engineer (left) and Arthur Teabo, shop superintendent, are discussing construction details. (T.Times, 1/26/1948, p.5)

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Jensen, Leslie E.; Teabo, Arthur; Machinery; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Permanente. The white, powdery alumina was discharged from bins into electrolytic cells known as reduction pots where it was periodically stirred. After heating in the reduction pots the molten aluminum was siphoned from the pots into 1 1/2 ton ladles. The ladles would be transferred by crane to the end of the potroom buildings where the molten metal was poured into molds forming pigs weighing 50 to 1,000 pounds. (Permanente Metals Corporation 1947-1948 Annual Report) TPL-4541

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Founding--Tacoma--1940-1950; Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Permanente. An employee of Permanente at the Tacoma plant looks very grateful for the medical assistance received from a nurse in the medical unit. He is now wearing a large, gauze bandage on his thumb. In 1947-1948 Permanente reported having nearly 5,000 employees in their several locations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Owens Lake, Natividad, Oakland, and Moss Landing, California; and Mead, Trentwood and Tacoma, Washington. (Permanente Metals Corporation Annual Report 1947-1948)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Infirmaries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nurses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Wounds & injuries--Tacoma; Accidents--Tacoma;

Permanente. Two men are having fun with a load of alumina, a fine white powder that is refined from alumium-bearing ore, bauxite. Bauxite was mined in South America, refined, using the Bayer process, in Baton Bouge and shipped by rail to the Pacific Northwest where it was converted into primary aluminum. Four pounds of bauxite were required to obtain two pounds of alumina shich yields one pound of aluminum. As of September 1948 nearly 500 boxcar loads of alumina per month were brought to Tacoma and Mead aluminum reduction plants, thereby becoming one of the largest users of boxcars in the Northwest.(Permanente Metals Corporation 1947-1948 Annual Report; T.Times, 9/6/1948, p.12)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum; Minerals--Tacoma; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Girls from Catholic College visiting Permanente plant, Bill Gorman. Students watch while molten alumina is siphoned from a reduction cell into a large crucible at the Permanente plant. Tacoma Catholic College had purchased the former Weyerhaeuser mansion, Haddaway Hall at 4301 No. Stevens St., and converted it into a Junior College for Women.

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Students--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Girls from Catholic College visiting Permanente plant, Bill Gorman. Several students from the freshman chemistry class at Tacoma Catholic College watch as the white, powdery alumina is added to a reduction pot in preparation to being melted and poured into molds to form pig aluminum. This was the first step in creating the later stages of aluminum that would be used in making Kaiser aluminum products from roofing and siding to airplane parts, ice cube trays and pots and pans. (TNT, 3/1948)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Students--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Crane in shop for Times annual edition, Star Iron & Steel, Mr. Anderson. Star Iron and Steel had just completed this Gantry crane for the Bureau of Reclamation. It had a capacity of 13 1/2 tons and a total lift of 222 feet. The crane was to be used to handle the bulkhead gates at the Marshall Ford Dam, Colorado River Project, Texas. A similar crane, with 325 ton capacity, was being built at this time for the Davis Dam on the Colorado River. (T.Times, 2/26/1948, p.32)

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Hoisting machinery; Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Tacoma Smelter for Industrial Page, Times, George Beckingham. This was called the anode where molten copper was poured into molds. Each copper ingot was 500 pounds and had to be jacked out by hand and picked up by a crane. The crane had to be attached manually and then guided to a cooling rack. The crew doing that also helped to purify the molten copper before it was poured by shoving logs into the melting pot to oxidize the impurities. Built and established as the Ryan Smelter by Dennis Ryan in 1887, the smelter was sold to William R. Rust in 1889, who changed the name to the Tacoma Smelting and Refining Company. It was sold again in 1905 to the American Smelting & Refining Company (ASARCO). Originally built to produce lead, by 1911 the smelter became a major supplier of copper and lead was no longer produced. The company smelted gold and silver and refined electrolytic copper and arsenic. (T.Times, 2/26/1948, p.35) (Additional information provided by a reader)

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1940-1950; Copper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

Fick Foundry for Industrial page of Times, George Beckingham. The building was built in 1925 for Walstad Machine Company. Fick Foundry opened at this location in 1942. This view includes the traveling craneway that was employed to handle large flasks used for making molds for large castings similar to the one being moved here. Two workmen are handling this operation. Fick advertised that they were manufacturers of iron, steel, brass, and aluminum castings for machine, marine and general usage. (T.Times, 2/26/1948, p.28 and p.41)

Fick Foundry Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Hoisting machinery; Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. One of Permanente's employees sits at his desk checking lists of figures and order forms. A map of the United States hangs on the wall behind him. Clip boards of additional data also hang on the wall along with schedules. A telephone sits to his right on the desk. The man is wearing a sports jacket, a sweater vest and a tie. He also wears a large ring on his left hand. A pencil protrudes from his jacket pocket. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Paperwork; Maps; Telephones;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. A view of one of the switchboard operators at the Permanente plant in Tacoma and the switchboard panel. She is wearing a headset to enable her to use both hands when operating the cords on the switchboard. A telephone dial is seen beyond her right arm and other office machinery is in the background. The young woman is wearing a two piece suit, a white blouse and a plaid scarf. Permanente acknowledged the high value of each employee in their annual reports. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Telephone switchboards--Tacoma--1940-1950; Telephone operators--Tacoma--1940-1950; Women--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two workmen from the Permanente plant shake hands. One of the men is older, wearing coveralls, a stripped shirt and a hat. The other man is younger wearing a plaid shirt, work pants and a hat. They look at each other and smile. It looks like they already like each other and will work well together. The plant facilities are seen in the background. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Three men are caught playing craps in the storage yard at Permanente Metals. A man using a piece of lumber as a club is coming up behind them. The dice are still in mid-air creating shadows in front of the man who has just released them. There's plenty of money on the play. Aluminum pigs are stacked up all around the players. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gambling--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two of the staff at Permanente are checking the pressure through a hose and narrow pipe on the arm of the young man in a chemical lab. Glass containers and tubing are set up on the counter in front of them. They both wear aprons with bibs. The woman has her goggles lifted up onto her forehead. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laboratories--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two workmen from the Permanente plant stand side-by-side, the older man has his arm around the shoulder of a younger man. The older man is wearing coveralls, a heavy shirt and a hat. He has goggles hanging around his neck. The other, younger man is wearing a jacket, a plaid shirt, and a hat. They are both smiling. The plant facilities are seen in the background. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Permanente's First Anniversary, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. A family enjoys hot dogs during the celebration at Permanente on October 27, 1948. The older girl sits on a stack of aluminum pigs that have been produced at the plant. The woman holds a baby with one arm and her hot dog in her other hand. The weiners for the event were fried on one of the hot 500 pound pigs of aluminum at the plant. (T.Times, 10/28/1948, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Families--Tacoma--1940-1950; Frankfurters--Tacoma--1940-1950;

On October 27, 1948, Permanente Metal Corporation employees, left to right, Charlotte Thorestad, C.P. (Pat) Love (plant manager) and Darlene O'Brien sat surrounded by a sea of iced cupcakes marked with a "P" and decorated with a single candle. Permanente's aluminum reduction plant at 2400 Taylor Way was celebrating its first year of production of Kaiser Aluminum with a "Family Day" Open House. Employees along with 1,500 friends, families and relations were the guests of management. They observed the step by step process of making aluminum and ate hot dogs cooked on a 500 lb. "pig" of aluminum, sandwiches, cupcakes and punch. The plant had been previously operated during World War II by the Olin Corporation. After its purchase by Kaiser, it became one of six aluminum plants operated by the company. The other plants were located at Mead and Trentwood Washington (near Spokane), Baton Rouge La., Newark Ohio and San Jose Ca. The Tacoma plant was permanently closed in 2002 and later demolished. (TNT 10/28/1948, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Baked products--Tacoma--1940-1950; Love, Charles P.; O'Brien, Darlene; Thorestad, Charlotte; Anniversaries--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Permanente's First Anniversary, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. A crowd of employees and their families watch James Condos, a caster at the plant, demonstrate pouring molten aluminum from a large ladle into a form for pig aluminum. More than 1,500 visitors crowded into the plant October 27, 1948, to celebrate the plant's first year of operation under Kaiser. They saw the step-by-step processes that went into making aluminum by touring the potrooms, rectifier stations, the machine shop, blacksmith shop and the casting room. (T.Times, 10/18, 1948, -.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Families--Tacoma--1940-1950; Anniversaries--Tacoma--1940-1950;

When the Rainier Steel Corporation began operations at 2201 Lincoln Avenue, on Tacoma's tideflats, in December of 1948 it became Tacoma's only steel plant at that time. Here an unidentified employee of Rainier Steel, in special safety glasses, monitors work being done in the facility. Eugene Cunningham, president and general manager, started the Rainier Steel Corporation because of the acute steel shortage after WWII. Rainier Steel used scrap iron as its raw material and their furnaces melted the iron and produced steel. The company planned to employ fifty people once they reached full operating capacity which was 100 tons daily with the present equipment. The steel was sent to Detroit for use in the automotive industry. (T. Times, 12/13/48, p. 5-article).

Foundries--Tacoma; Founding--Tacoma; Iron & steel workers--Tacoma; Steel; Steel industry--Tacoma; Hoisting machinery; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Furnaces--Tacoma; Rainier Steel Corp. (Tacoma);

The first steel plant in Tacoma opens on December 3, 1948, at 2201 Lincoln Avenue, on the tideflats. Rainier Steel Corporation's owner, President and General Manager is Eugene Cunningham. View of Phil E. Haglund (left) and Eugene Cunningham standing by the furnace on the first day of operations at Rainier Steel Corporation (T. Times, 12/13/48, p. 5).

Foundries--Tacoma; Founding--Tacoma; Iron & steel workers--Tacoma; Steel; Steel industry--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Furnaces--Tacoma; Rainier Steel Corp. (Tacoma);

The Rainier Steel Corporation is the first company in Tacoma and in this regional area of its kind. The steel produced is being used to manufacture automobiles, company representatives stated the automobile companies are offering the best prices for their products. View of steel workers watching the first pouring of steel at Rainier Steel Corporation (T. Times, 12/13/48, p. 5).

Foundries--Tacoma; Founding--Tacoma; Iron & steel workers--Tacoma; Steel; Steel industry--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Furnaces--Tacoma; Rainier Steel Corp. (Tacoma);

Rainier Steel Corporation was incorporated in July 1948, the first steel was poured on December 3, 1948; the incorporated value of the plant is $200,000. The plant is only operating at 50%, at this time, the full capacity of the plant will be 100 tons per day. This Tacoma industry is helping fill the demands of the national steel shortage, most of the steel produced in Tacoma is being sold to automobile companies in Detroit, Michigan. View of unidentified steel worker checking the controls on the equipment (T. Times, 12/13/48, p. 5).

Foundries--Tacoma; Founding--Tacoma; Iron & steel workers--Tacoma; Steel; Steel industry--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Rainier Steel Corp. (Tacoma);

Rainier Steel would use scrap iron as their raw resource in producing steel. The plant began producing steel on December 3, 1948, they were the first steel plant in Tacoma. The plant would employ about 50 people, when they reached full operations, which would help build the payrolls in Tacoma industries. Aerial view of Rainier Steel Corporation, located between Blair Waterway and Hylebos Waterway on Lincoln Avenue.

Steel industry--Tacoma; Steel; Foundries--Tacoma; Waterfronts; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Aerial photographs; Aerial views; Rainier Steel Corp. (Tacoma);