ASARCO smelter (American Smelting & Refining Co.). A large crane mounted on tracks is unloading ore from the Norwegian motorship Bronnoy. The ship carried a $600,000 cargo of gold ore from Russian mines in the Urals. The mechanical crane could carry 5 tons on each dip into the ship's hold. The Bronnoy's 8,997 ton shipment will be refined at the rate of 900 tons a day. (T. Times 9/13/1935, pg. 3 & 1/19/1935, pg. 1)
ca. 1888. Tacoma smelter. This smelter on Ruston's waterfront was established as the Ryan Smelter in 1887 by Dennis Ryan. It was sold to William R. Rust in 1889 who then changed its name to the Tacoma Smelting & Refining Co. This photograph was taken around 1888 when the smelter was still in its early stages. Pilings jut out into the water at the right, tree stumps are abundantly scattered on the grounds, and the chimney in the photo's center was the first of three succeedingly larger smokestacks. The smelter would be sold to the American Smelting & Refining Co. (ASARCO) in 1905. (Print owned by Thomas Martin. Copy on file)
American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Smelters--Tacoma;
ca. 1889. Northern Pacific Headquarters at 621 Pacific Avenue, circa 1889. The railroad had chosen Tacoma as its western terminus in 1873; from that point, the city would grow furiously from a small hamlet to a metropolis of about 30,000 by 1890. Construction of Northern Pacific's stone and brick headquarters with its distinctive tower, located on the bluff overlooking their half-moon railroad yards, began in the summer of 1887 and was completed the following year. Its 53 offices and storerooms and 19 vaults were utilized by the Tacoma Land Company, Weyerhaeuser Company and Northern Pacific. Northern Pacific would sell the building to the City of Tacoma in 1922 as the railroad planned to move its offices to Seattle. Photograph courtesy of the John Ogden Collection. (Tacoma Rediviva, p. 27+) TPL-10172
Northern Pacific Headquarters Building (Tacoma); Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);
Fischer & Porter Co. West Tacoma Newsprint Co. in Steilacoom, WA. Man taking notes on a clipboard reading various circular gauges attached to large machines.
Exterior shot of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association Circus. A banner outside displays the words "Plywood Jubilee" and "Free Show." Flood lighting can be seen at the top and bottom of the structure.
Exterior shot of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association Circus. A banner outside displays the words "Plywood Jubilee" and "Free Show." A mural along the from of the structure depicts a magician turning a tree into plywood.
Display kiosk at the Doug Fir Plywood Association Circus with 233 small wooden disks labeled with ways the company creates sales. Black and white photographs of the plywood making process are visible in the background.
A miniature model of a plywood making work room on display at the Douglas Fir Plywood Association Circus. Dolls are exhibited processing the lumber into plywood.
ca. 1910. An unidentified logger stands in front of a logging shed, circa 1913. The shed is labelled "Grays Harbor Logging Co., Camp #2." The Grays Harbor Logging Company was located on the East Fork of the Wishkah River, outside of Aberdeen in Grays Harbor County, where they maintained three logging dams. The head of the company was Calvin Herbert "Bert" Shutt, who drowned in one of his own logging ponds on the river November 18, 1915. The company was in operation from around 1909-1920. By 1913, the company also maintained offices in Aberdeen, located on "Skidroad," near the corner of Hume and F St. The secretary/treasurer of the company was F.E. Burrows. ("They Tried to Cut It All" by Edwin Van Syckle) (photograph courtesy of Dan Powell) TPL-9835
ca. 1910. A grouping of rough loggers, probably employees of the Grays Harbor Logging Co., posed for the camera on and around a downed giant tree, circa 1910. The early era of the Grays Harbor lumber industry was often called the "Timber Rush," as fortunes were made in the attempt to clear cut the great stand of Douglas Fir. The Grays Harbor Logging Co. was in operation from 1909-1920. They had logging camps on the East Fork of the Wishkah River and maintained offices in Aberdeen. The company's president was C. H. Shutt and the Secretary/Treasurer was F.E. Burrows. ("They Tried to Cut It All" by Edwin VanSyckle") (photograph courtesy of Dan Powell) TPL-9833
Northern Pacific Railroad track along Commencement Bay, Tacoma, Washington Territory, circa 1885. Mt. Tacoma (Rainier) and tideflats in background. The railroad tracks were built on fill dirt. The water-filled half-moon section would also be filled in to become the railroad yard, called appropriately the "half-moon yard." KING-008, G76.1-101 (Digital copy only. No print or negative available).