This elevated view of the Buffelen Lumber & Manufacturing Company, looking toward Tacoma across the Tideflats, was captured in November of 1921. The narrow bridge built on pilings is the old Hylebos Creek bridge. Located in the industrial Tideflats at Lincoln Ave. & Taylor Way, the sprawling Buffelen plant had been undergoing rapid expansion with the construction of a new warehouse in 1916 and a new power plant five years later. Other important improvements in 1921 included dry kilns and warehouses. Buffelen was organized in 1912 by John Buffelen primarily as a door manufacturer. In 1916 the company started to manufacture fir plywood. A small ad placed in the Tacoma Daily Ledger on 7-11-21 listed "fir doors, 3-ply panels, alder panels, sash, etc." as products manufactured by the firm which had offices in Minneapolis and Tacoma. (TDL- Ad 7-11-21, p. 7; Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 1-1-22, B-5-article)
Buffelen Lumber & Manufacturing Co. was located in the area near the intersection of Lincoln and Taylor Way along the Tideflats. The company had been established at this location in the early 1900s. To the left of the picture is the mill's log pool.
View taken from an elevated point on March 19, 1943 of the Buffelen Lumber & Manufacturing Co., located on Lincoln at Taylor Way on the Tideflats. The company was organized in 1912 by John Buffelen, who produced primarily doors. Early in 1916, the plant began to manufacture fir plywood. In 1928, Buffelen met Phil Simpson, who became vice president of the company. John Buffelen left the firm in 1928 and Simpson acted as general manager of what was known as the Buffelen Lumber & Manufacturing Co. Mr. Simpson was one the forces involved in the formation of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. ("The Plywood Age" Robert M. Cour)("The Plywood Age" Robert M. Cour)
The log pool at Buffelen Lumber and Manufacturing Company, located at Lincoln at Taylor Way on the Tideflats. The company had been operating a mill at this location since the early 1900's.
Buffelen Lumber and Manufacturing Co. was located at Lincoln at Taylor Way on the Tideflats. Its raw materials and finished products were moved by water and rail. This photograph shows the log pool to the right with the tracks for the railroad along side.
Interiors at the Buffelen Lumber plant on the Tideflats. The immense plant was located on Lincoln Ave at Taylor Way. It was one of the earliest producers of fir plywood; beginning plywood production in 1916. In this photograph, two employees, one of them a woman wearing slacks, stack sheets of plywood. Plywood was an important World War II material, used in boats as well as buildings. During and after WWII, it was used for pre-fab housing. ("The Plywood Age" Robert M. Cour)
Aerials of the immense Buffelen Lumber Co. on the Tideflats. The large mill was located on Lincoln at Taylor Way; 2000 Taylor Way is the approximate address. The company was started in 1912 by John Buffelen. By 1928, Phil Simpson was acting as vice president and general manager. Simpson was one the forces involved in the formation of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. ("The Plywood Age" Robert M. Cour)
Aerials of Buffelen Lumber Co. on the Tideflats. The large mill was located on Lincoln at Taylor Way; 2000 Taylor Way is the approximate address. The company was organized in 1912 by John Buffelen, a partner at that time with August Von Boecklin in Washington Manufacturing Co., makers of fir columns. Buffelen started his new plant in Tacoma and produced primarily doors. Early in 1916, the plant began to manufacture fir plywood. In 1928, Buffelen met Phil Simpson, at that time the secretary and treasurer of the Tacoma Gas and Electric Co. Simpson became vice president of Buffelen in charge of finances. John Buffelen left the firm in 1928 and Simpson formed a holding company for the concern, by then known as the Buffelen Lumber & Manufacturing Co. ("The Plywood Age" Robert M. Cour)
In June of 1947, an unidentified employee of the Buffelen Lumber Co. used a giant lathe to strip the bark off of a peeler log. The log will later be peeled to make plywood. Started in 1912 by John Buffelen, the Buffelen Lumber Company was located on Lincoln at Taylor Way on the Tacoma tideflats. Buffelen's was one of the earliest plywood companies, beginning plywood production in 1916.
Plywood production at Buffelen Lumber Co. An employee uses a giant lathe to strip the bark off of a peeler log. The log will later be peeled into sheets of veneer used to make plywood. Plywood is sheets of veneer glued together to form a stronger material. Buffelen was one of the earliest plywood companies, beginning plywood production in 1916. Plywood boomed as an industry with the government's approval of plywood as a defense material during WWII.
Philipine mahogany logs are being unloaded from a freighter at Buffelen Lumber. Buffelen was located on Lincoln Avenue at Taylor Way on the Tacoma tideflats, approximate address was 2000 Taylor Way.
