Feed belts at Tacoma Smelter. The belts were located under the ore dock where concentrates and ore were received from ships. View of smelter operations taken in November of 1923. G37.1-193 (Additional information provided by a reader)
American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1920-1930;
Employees of Star Iron Works posed aboard their patriotic "float" for the 1918 Labor Day Parade. The float was stopped just south of the Union Station at 1717 Pacific Avenue. They were part of the nearly 20,000 representatives of organized labor who marched in the largest Labor Day parade the city of Tacoma had seen to that date. There were eight large divisions of labor, 12 bands including two from Camp Lewis, floats and pretty girls on display. Working men and women, from boiler makers to cigar makers to cooks, all marched in countless lines during the hour-long parade which ended at Wright Park. Industries were booming during the war years as noted by the increase of shipworkers marching in the parade - 4,700 compared to the 47 the year before. G38.1-041 (TDL 9-2-18, p. 1-article; TDL 9-3-18, p. 1-article; TNT 9-2-18, p. 1-article)
Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1910-1920; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1910-1920;
Henry M. Botnen of Star Iron & Steel Company examines a large hoist drum being manufactured for the royal government of Afghanistan in October of 1972. The drum has been placed in a lath and is undergoing truing. Star Iron & Steel, located at 326 Alexander Avenue on Tacoma's tideflats, was a decades-old company whose work involved steel fabrication and heavy crane manufacture. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel Co. (Additional identification provided by a reader)
Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Botnen, Henry;
This Hardhat Saved A Life Studio set up of hard hat tilted against a 20.1 lb. piece of steel. An arrow points to the damage incurred on the hard hat, presumably by the 20.1 lb. of steel which impacted it. It looks like Star Iron & Steel Co. employee Ed Sweet's life was saved by the use of safety equipment - in this case, a hard hat - which withstood the weight and force of the steel. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel Co.
Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Safety equipment;
Gate hoist. The above gate hoist was built for use on the Bonneville Dam, Columbia River, by Star Iron & Steel Co. of Tacoma. Hoist is shown on September 16, 1971, prior to shipment. Star Iron & Steel had contracts of about $14 million for 1971. The firm would be sold late in September to Breeze Corporations, Inc. of New Jersey. Star Iron & Steel would be a wholly owned subsidiary of Breeze and continue to operate under present management. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel. (TNT 9-22-71, D-14 - article on sale to Breeze)
Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Hoisting machinery;
1976 Daily operations at foundry. An unidentified female technician at Atlas Foundry & Machine Co., 3012 Wilkeson St., conducts quality control tests using a Tinius Olsen machine in the company's tech center. The Tinius Olsen machine would be measuring the foundry products' strength and performance. Atlas Foundry has been a presence in Tacoma since 1899 when it began manufacturing iron castings for the local logging industry. It then branched out to steel castings and further steel production. The foundry's name was changed in 2002 to Atlas Castings & Technology. Photograph ordered by Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (www.atlascastings.com)
ca. 1978. ASARCO plant. Exterior view in early 1978 of the American Smelting & Refining Company (ASARCO) with focus on large diameter fiberglas reinforced pipe manufactured by Chemical Pipe & Tank (owned by Barthel Co.) and the Barthel Co. and installed by the National Blower & Sheet Metal Co., fabricators of structural steel and miscellaneous iron. The lines may have been 33 inches on the smaller line and six feet diameter on the larger one. Photograph ordered by National Blower & Sheet Metal Co. (Additional information provided by a reader)
American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); National Blower & Sheet Metal Co. (Tacoma); Chemical Pipe & Tank Co. (Tacoma); Barthel Chemical Construction Co. (Tacoma);
ca. 1978. Elevated view of the American Smelting & Refining Co. (ASARCO) in early 1978. Photograph ordered by the National Blower & Sheet Metal Co. of Tacoma who had probably built and installed the pipes shown above. They were involved in industrial air pollution control, dust collecting and ventilating systems, metal fabrications for industrial requirements as well as building sheet metal work and electric and heli-arc welding.
American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); National Blower & Sheet Metal Co. (Tacoma); Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1970-1980;
Scenes from Fick Foundry. A Fick Foundry employee is pictured on October 16, 1969, in a workshop area of the foundry. What appears to be a giant propeller lies on a long rectangular work table before him. Fick Foundry had long been established at 1005 East D St. and were manufacturers of metal castings for machine, marine and general use. Photograph ordered by Winston Fournier & Associates, Dallas.
Fick Foundry Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1960-1970;
Scenes from Fick Foundry. An unidentified worker at Fick Foundry, 1005 East D St., is pictured on October 16, 1969, one-handedly stirring a metal container of boiling liquid hung from a winch. Masses of steam obscure the contents. Drops of the molten metal escape the container and some appear to land on or near the worker. Photograph ordered by Winston Fournier & Associates, Dallas.
Fick Foundry Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1960-1970; Founding--Tacoma--1960-1970; Hoisting machinery;
1969 Scenes from Fick Foundry. A shimmering cascade of sparks streams from a machine used in Fick Foundry's operations. The unidentified foundry employee grips the metal tongs of the machine while wearing heavy gloves and protective goggles. Fick Foundry was established by Samuel Fick in the early 1920's and with his two sons' help, primarily produced iron manhole rings and covers and window sash weights. The company would grow and eventually move to manufacture high-integrity castings to meet modern technology's demands. Photograph ordered by Winston Fournier & Associates, Dallas. (Morgan: South on the Sound, p. 176)
Fick Foundry Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1960-1970; Metalworking--Tacoma;
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.
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)
Permanente Metals, Mr. Love. Olin opened a plant at this location September 1942. In December 1946 the company was sold to Kaiser Aluminum who operated Permanente Metals. The Tacoma plant had its own aluminum reduction plant. Permanente produced "pig" aluminum that was transported to Kaiser plants in Trentwood, near Spokane, to be made into specific grades of aluminum by the addition of other metallic elements such as copper, zinc, silicon, magnesium, manganese, etc. Soda ash from California and alumina from Baton Rough were brought to Tacoma to produce the "pigs". (PMC Annual Report for 1948)
Shiploading aluminum ingots at Shaffer Terminal #3, Permanente Metals, Pat Love. 4,000 metric tons (8,818,000 pounds) of aluminum, made into "pigs" by Permanente Metals Corporation in Spokane sits in one of the warehouses at Shaffer Terminals, ready to be loaded into an Argentine government freighter, the Palamar. This shipment represents the largest single shipment made by the Kaiser organization to date. As large as it is, this load will only fill one-half of the holds in the ship. (T.Times, 8/28/1947, p.1)
An employee of Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation's Seattle plant has his hands on the large valve of a machine in a photograph taken in September, 1951. Another employee in checkered jacket stands by finished steel products. Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel had several facilities in the Seattle area including a rolling mill, nut and bolt department, tank farm and mill depot. Photograph ordered by Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp., San Francisco.
Seven men are working at drafting tables at the new pre-fab plant of Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation at 8501 East Marginal Way, Seattle. Ordered by Mr. Morse.
Exterior to be used for letterhead, Steel, Steel & Steel, Inc., Mr. Ray. The company's window advertises that they have been realtors since 1920. David C. Steel was the president and manager of the company. William S. Steel served as secretary. Walter C. Steel Company was located at the same address and was headed by W.C. Steel. This night-time view of the offices includes window displays of current listings as well as the office fixtures and furnishings. TPL-8209
Steel Steel Steel, Inc. (Tacoma); Walter C. Steel, Inc. (Tacoma); Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Storefronts--Tacoma--1940-1950; Window displays--Tacoma--1940-1950; Real estate business--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.
Rainier Steel Company had just started operating in the steel industry in Tacoma, this company was the only one of its type in this regional area. Rainier would be producing and selling their steel to automobile companies in Detroit, Michigan. Eugene Cunningham was the President of Rainier Steel Corporation, the plant facilities were located at 2201 Lincoln Avenue in Tacoma's tideflats area, between Blair Waterway and Hylebos Waterway.
Publicity for Permanente News and Times Industrial Page, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two workmen move alumina into the reduction pots before closing the corrugated cover. Permanente produced more aluminum at this time than was produced by the entire industry in 1937, the third largest producer of aluminum in the nation. The average age of their employees was 35 years. The daily uses of aluminum were multiplying as manufacturers became acquainted with its lightness, strength, corrosion resistance, formability and appearance. (T.Times, 2/25/1949, p.36)
Publicity for Permanente News and Times Industrial Page, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. One of the employees at Permanente Metals Corporation leans back with his feet up on a pull-out board on a desk to review a worksheet. Clip-boards, a calendar and a map hang on the wall behind him. He is wearing work boots and a hat while relaxing into this review.
Her hair in disarray, a harried phone operator at Permanente Metals listens to one of many calls to the big plant at 3400 Taylor Way on February 9, 1949. Permanente, producers of Kaiser Aluminum, ran round-the-clock operations to keep up with the heavy demand by industry and the military for aluminum. Opened in Tacoma in 1947 as one of three big plants in Washington State, the company was the third largest producer of aluminum in the nation, exceeding over 20% of national production. (T.Times 2-25-49, p. 36-article)
ASARCO was one of the largest industries in Tacoma, with over 1,304 employees and a payroll of over $345,000. Last year the company smelted over 383,129 tons of ore and 106,870 tons of copper were refined. The company was a long and interesting history of ownerships, mergers and stockholders; including a time when the Guggenheim's were in control of the business. View of "Safety First" display during ASARCO's open house (T.N.T., 4/3/49, p. A-15 & 4/5/49, p. 1).
Since September 1948, ASARCO has had 30,318 stockholders, with no one person owning as much as 3% of the company, making it one of the largest companies in the United States to be owned by the public. Six ASARCO employees, including Gustav Nordberg (third from right) are pictured at the company's 50-year celebration. Mr. Nordberg would pass away less than a year after this April, 1949, photograph was taken. He died on February 1, 1950. He lived on 49th & Frace, close to the smelter, and walked to work nearly every day. (T.N.T., 4/3/49, p. A-15 & 4/5/49, p. 1). (Additional identification & information provided by a reader)
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
This aerial view of Tacoma shows the American Smelting & Refining Company's (ASARCO) smoke stack, plant and the surrounding area as it looked in July of 1953. The ASARCO smoke stack was a dominant feature in the Tacoma skyline from its construction in 1917 to its implosion in 1993. The plant stood near Point Defiance. Here large vessels can be seen pulled up to the dock to be loaded with metals to be shipped throughout the world. To the left can be seen part of the marina of the Tacoma Yacht Club and to the lower right, the city of Ruston. TPL-8483
American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1950-1960; Copper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
