Tanks are placed in lines in one of the buildings of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company's Tacoma plant. A workman is seen attaching parts to the tanks between the rows.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington began operations in their Taylor Way plant in June, 1929. Then known as Tacoma Electrochemical Company, they produced liquid chlorine, caustic soda and sodium hypochlorite for the area's pulp mills. Previously, mills had to import these products from the East. A plentiful supply of low-cost electricity, pure water, moderate climate, and good supply of labor provided incentive for Pennsalt and other chemical plants to locate in Tacoma. View of Pennsalt worker turning bolt with a wrench; photograph was taken in October, 1951.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1950-1960; Machinery; Pipes;

General American Evaporators shown in evaporator room at Pennsylvania Salt. Penn Salt began a $172,000 plant expansion program in March 1951. The biggest investment was to be in new equipment in the plant's chlorine and caustic soda departments. Some building modification was also included. The expansion was necessitated by both increased normal demands and those spurred by war production. (TNT, 3/30/1951)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. The exterior of one of the buildings at the plant is pictured on June 7, 1947. The roof line includes elongated V shapes: the shorter side is translucent to allow light into the factory during daylight hours.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. Two men stand by a large control panel. One of the men is turning a valve. Dials are displayed on the large metal face of the panel.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. A large room filled with rows and rows of tanks in the electrolytic cell department. Two men are walking along the aisles to assure all is well. This electro-chemical company manufactured chlorine, caustic soda, sodium hypochlorite, bleaching powder, hydrogen and sodium arsenate among other substances. (TNT, 2/15/1949, p.A-6)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tanks (Storage); Factories--Tacoma; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

Fred H. Gillmaster is flanked by Marijane Argue, office secretary, on the left and an unidentified woman on the right, at the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington's open house on August 8, 1950. Mr. Gillmaster has a white flower clasped in his hands while the two women wear small corsages. While the Tacoma plant has been in operation since 1929, its parent company is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees; Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gillmaster, Fred H.; Argue, Marijane;

Eight men stand outdoors at the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington's open house on August 8, 1950. The open house, held at Pennsalt's Taylor Way location, drew a large crowd of interested visitors and employees. It was all in celebration of its parent firm's 100 anniversary. (TNT 8-6-50, p. A-9)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

A large crowd awaits entry to the open house at the Pennsalt plant on August 8, 1950. They are listening to a welcoming speech by the gentleman standing next to the large American flag. Pennsalt, headquartered in Pennsylvania, has been in the chemicals business for 100 years. In that time, the firm has grown into a nationwide chain of eight manufacturing plants, including Tacoma's tideflats location, and research laboratories. (TNT 8-6-50, p. A-9)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington held an open house on August 8, 1950, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its parent firm. The Tacoma plant is located at on the tideflats at 2901 Taylor Way. Domestic salt is brought in from California and Tacoma's cheap electrical power and abundant clean water are used to produce caustic soda and chlorine. The industrial chemicals can then be transported easily back to California and other locations due to Tacoma's efficient shipping facilities. (TNT 8-9-50, p. 10)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

An open house and tour occurred at the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington's Taylor Way plant on August 8, 1950, as the plant helped celebrate its parent firm's 100th anniversary. This long distance shot shows several women relaxing at a table in front of a brick building. The open house drew large crowds of interested visitors.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington: yard employees' Christmas party. Employees chat over bowls of soup, paper cups of coffee and long loaves of French bread. The Pennsalt plant manufactured caustic chemicals used in paper, pulp and plywood manufacturing. It was one of the largest plants in the Tacoma Tideflats industrial area.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington; yard employees' Christmas party. Pennsalt president and general manager Fred C. Shanaman, in center, enjoys a bowl of soup with employees. Pennsalt, at 40 acres on the Hylebos Waterway, was one of the largest plants in the Tideflats industrial area. Materials were brought into the plant by ship and rail. The company was also the major user of Tacoma power & water.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982;

This aerial view of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company shows their building complex, 2901 Taylor Way, as it appeared in July 1956. Storage tanks dot the area around the plant and one of the Pennwalt barges can be seen being maneuvered to the dock by two tugs. In 1928, the eastern firm was invited to build a caustic soda and liquid chlorine plant on 14 acres of filled ground adjacent to the Hylebos Waterway. The plant opened the following year as Tacoma ElectroChemical Company. As the parent firm diversified the plants' chemical production, it became known as Pennsalt, and then Pennwalt. Pennwalt Corp. was taken over by Elf-Atochem in 1990. ("South on the Sound" by Murray Morgan)

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma);

Pennsalt; 8 people at a desk. The man in the lab coat holds a glass bottle with a grainy substance inside.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Pennsalt; Plant & employees for magazine. As the western headquarters for Pennsylvania Salt, the Tacoma plant also employed a large office staff. This group may have been attached to the sales department. The chemicals produced at Pennsalt were sold mainly to pulp, paper, plywood and soap manufacturers.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees;

ca. 1960. Aerial photograph of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. in 1960 Richards Studio's stock footage. This Tacoma plant, opened in 1929, covered nearly 40 acres of tideflats on the Hylebos Waterway. A ship is docked ready to transport Pennsalt's chemical products. TPL-6578

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1960-1970; Aerial photographs;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. An interior view of the plant. Three large funnels are shown with large tanks in the background. One man is painting some of the metal surfaces of the internal structures. Another man is standing reviewing the process.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. An interior view of the plant showing a line of very large storage tanks along the left side. On the right are stacks of bagged materials.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tanks (Storage); Factories--Tacoma;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. A view of a large ventilating or cooling system on the exterior of one of the buildings at the plant yards. Several series of narrow tubes stand vertically with dials visible at the front. One series of four tubes run from underground to a square metal box near the middle of the apparatus.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Several shots at plant to be used as mural at Poodle Dog, Penn Salt Manufacturing Co., Mr. Shanaman. Two workers check rows of tanks at Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. The company was a manufacturer of basic chemicals from salt including caustic soda, chlorine, sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen, dairy and poultry germicides, special chemical cleaners and dry cleaning products.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Poodle Dog (Fife);

Pennsalt; Plant & employees for magazine. This appears, from the large number of adding machines, to be the accounting department. Construction of the Pennsylvania Salt plant began in 1928; production of chemicals began in 1929. The 40 acre Tacoma plant was the western headquarters for the Philadelphia, Pa., parent company. Raw materials were brought to the plant by ship and rail. Pennsalt was the major consumer of city water and power.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees;

Pennsalt; Plant & employees for magazine. President and general manager Fred C. Shanaman sits at the desk. Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co., with 40 acres on the Hylebos Waterway, was one of the larger plants in the Tideflats industrial section of Tacoma. It was the Western headquarters for its parent company, the world's largest chemical manufacturing firm. The company had other branches at Portland and Bryan, Texas. Together, the three branches produced an estimated 6 million dollars worth of products annually. The main products were sodium arsenate, hydrogen & sodium hypochlorite, chlorine salt, caustic soda and DDT. These products were used in pulp, paper, plywood and soap manufacturing and in sanitation.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982;

A view of the exterior of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company's facilities showing the proximity of the railroad spur to one of the buildings. A stack is seen over the building. Pennsalt's expansion program begun in 1951 was to include four structures, the largest of which was to be an 80 x 120-foot section of the primary production room. (TNT, 7/29/1951)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad tank cars--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad sidings--Tacoma;

This is the office of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. (commonly known as Pennsalt), located in Tacoma's tideflats area, in January of 1952. The big chemical plant covered 40 acres on the Hylebos Waterway. The Ionic columns are believed to have been manufactured by the (Washington) Mutual Fir Column Co. who were neighbors of Pennsalt.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

A "Sreen", a high bias installation at Penn Salt.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. Family Day; employees' picnic and open house. Photograph labelled, left to right, Sgt. Bob Marshall, Mr. Fred Shanaman & Ed Sorger. Sgt. Marshall was the head of the Tacoma Police Department's Safety Division, Fred Shanaman was president and general manager of the company and Ed Sorger was Washington State's Safety Supervisor. The trio stand in front of a display case containing a trophy, certificates and memorabilia of the company's safety record. In 1950 & 52, Pennsalt won the National Safety Council's Award of Merit for no "lost time accidents" and the Pennsalt national award for best yearly safety record. Pennsalt opened on the Tideflats in June of 1929. The 40 acre plant manufactured industrial chemicals. (TNT 9/6/1953, pg. A-12)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma)--Employees; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Marshall, Bob; Sorger, Ed; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982;

ca. 1940. Pennsylvania Salt Mfg. Co. Gauges for Boiler No.2. The large chemical producing company was located in the Tideflats, along the Hylebos Waterway.

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Gauges; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Pennsalt display. Eight young women gather around a Pennsalt display on August 4, 1950. The large panel next to them shows the chemicals--caustic soda, chlorine, and hydrogen--that Pennsalt produces from raw salt and further illustrates in what these chemicals are used. These range from textile bleaching to commercial refrigeration to cosmetics. Pennsalt went on to celebrate its 100th anniversary on August 8, 1950, with a well-attended open house at its Tacoma plant on the tideflats. (TNT 8-6-50, p. A-9)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington's Taylor Way plant opened its doors for visitors to help celebrate its parent company's 100th anniversary. Founded in Natrona, Pennsylvania, in 1850, the firm has grown into a nationwide chain of eight manufacturing plants and research laboratories. Pennsalt does not make table salt. It does, however, make more than 300 chemical products ranging from small bottles of bactercide to multi-ton tank cars of acid. (TNT 8-6-50, p. A-9)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;