Molten liquid is being poured into molds at Fick Foundry, 1005 East D Street, in October of 1969. In business since 1924, Fick Foundry were producers of "quality static and centrifugal castings in most ferrous metals, and close tolerance aluminum centrifugal castings." The company had suffered through three major fires and was rebuilt each time. It would finally close in the late 1980's. Photograph ordered by Winston Fournier & Associates, Dallas.

Fick Foundry Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1960-1970; Founding--Tacoma--1960-1970; Hoisting machinery;

Star Iron & Steel. On January 14, 1970, a series of photographs were taken regarding plant operations at Star Iron & Steel, 326 Alexander Ave. This is believed to be the building housing the aluminum fabrication unit. The interior looks very crowded with a variety of aluminum products. Founded in 1908, Star Iron & Steel was one of the oldest steel fabrication plants in the Pacific Northwest. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel Co.

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Industrial facilities--1970-1980; Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980;

Star Iron & Steel. This is believed to be the aluminum fabrication plant at Star Iron & Steel in early 1970. The interior appears crowded with stacks of aluminum with metal shavings and piles of debris in the photograph's foreground. Star Iron & Steel, a long established Tacoma firm, had moved to more spacious quarters in the Port Industrial area in 1963. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel Co.

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1970-1980; Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980;

Atlas Foundry. A Bicentennial flag flaps in the wind in the Atlas Foundry's visitor parking area in the spring of 1976. Parked beside a plant building is a bright orange truck filled with a variety of steel castings manufactured by Atlas. In 2002 Atlas Foundry became Atlas Castings & Technology, further expanding the size and materials offered and increasing their presence in many primary markets. Color photograph ordered by Atlas Foundry & Machine Co.

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1970-1980; Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Trucks--Tacoma--1970-1980; Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1970-1980; Flags--United States;

Groundbreaking at Atlas Foundry. Ground was broken on February 23, 1978, at the Atlas Foundry site for expansion and modernization of the longtime Tacoma company. Several new buildings and renovation of equipment, totaling $5,000,000, were included in the five-year plan. The company employed approximately 400 people. Pictured above is company president Leo H. Long, Sr., who is flanked by Milo S. Gates, president of Swineston & Walberg Co. and Charles "Chuck" Fausel, executive vice-president of Lester B. Knight & Associates, Inc. All three are gripping a shiny shovel with a small plaque attached. Photograph ordered by Atlas Foundry. (TNT 2-24-78, C-12-article on expansion)

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1970-1980; Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Ground breaking ceremonies--Tacoma--1970-1980; Shovels; Long, Leo H.; Gates, Milo S.; Fausel, Charles;

ca. 1971. Crane operations - customer negatives. Planks placed on a tilted board may have come from the boxcar nearby. Photographs requested by Star Iron & Steel Co., major crane manufacturer. Crane units visible were under construction by Star Iron & Steel; cranes, hoists and special machinery made up 70% of the company's annual volume. The company also specialized in fabricated steel and aluminum. See D159837, image 13, for progress photograph of crane. (TNT 12-13-70, C-21 - article)

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Hoisting machinery; Railroad freight cars--Tacoma--1970-1980;

Preparations are being made to transport a floating concrete bulkhead from Star Iron & Steel Co.'s plant at 326 Alexander Ave. in early February of 1971. The 25-foot high bulkhead appears to be placed on beams equipped with wheels. It would be hauled to the Port of Tacoma and then towed by tug to the Snake River for use on the Little Goose Lock & Dam. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel Co. (TNT 2-6-71, p. 21 - article)

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Retaining walls--Tacoma;

Closer view of floating bulkhead on February 4, 1971. Previous photographs of the bulkhead and its move from Star Iron & Steel's tideflats location to waterfront are in D159838, images 6, 12, 14, and 17. Workers are shown monitoring water spurting from the bulkhead. The bulkhead, 25-feet tall, was ordered by the U.S. Corps of Engineers for usage on the Snake River near the Tri-Cities. Star Marine Industries, a subsidiary of Star Iron & Steel, would begin transporting the 114-ton bulkhead on February 8, 1971 by tugboat from the Port of Tacoma. The $165,000 bulkhead was designed and built by Star Iron & Steel. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel Co. (TNT 2-6-71, p. 21- article)

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Retaining walls--Tacoma;

Gate hoist. Gate hoist on display at Star Iron & Steel, 326 Alexander Ave., on September 16, 1971. The hoist would be headed out to the Columbia River for use on the Bonneville Dam. Photograph ordered by Star Iron & Steel.

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1970-1980; Hoisting machinery;

Waste-heat boilers at Tacoma Smelter (ASARCO) showing pipes within frame work, some pipes continue to floor below.

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Copper industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

Atlas Foundry Furnace in the closed position.

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1930-1940; Steel industry--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Atlas Foundry. Interior. Pouring of metal.

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma);

Four tall smokestacks on an industrial building.

The American Smelting & Refining Co. (ASARCO Incorporated) Tacoma Plant. TPL-2353. Areas of the plant are labelled with arrows and typed notations. Typed notations read, left hand side, top to bottom: Main Stack, Silos, ESP'S (Hoppers), Flue, Metallic Arsenic Area, Arsenic Kitchens, Arsenic Roasters (Hoppers, Roaster Baghouse Hoppers, Herreshoff Roasters), Acid Plant Bldg (Settling Tanks & Basin), Fine Ore Storage (Settling, evaporation and neutralization impoundment Waste Piles), Liquid SO2 Plant. Across the top, left to right: Laboratory Container Storage, Reverberatory Furnaces, Oil Tanks, Refineries, Settling & Evaporation Basins. Right hand side, top to bottom: Slag Dump, Casting Furnace, Anode Furnaces, Nickel Plant, Converters, Unloading Dock, Crushing & Sampling Mill, Incinerator, and Ore Piles. TPL-2353, TPL-6246

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1950-1960; Copper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), Tacoma. Glowing, molten liquid ore pouring from a reverbatory furnace into a huge ladle. Two workers on the left are dwarfed by the size of the equipment. The furnace heats the ore to 2,700 degrees Farenheit. For J. Gius, reporter. (T. Times 1/19/1935, pg. 1)

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Copper industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

General overview of the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), Tacoma, as it appeared in 1935. Once the tallest smoke stack in the world, the brick structure billows smoke as it looms far above its industrial buildings. The stack was imploded in the 1990s after the refinery closed. (T. Times 1/19/1935, pg. 1)

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Copper industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

Star Iron & Steel Company bridge fabricated in five days for Whidbey Island-Mukilteo ferry landing. Becholdt trailer pulled by Cooney Transfer & Storage Company truck on August 23, 1938, transports the 30,000 pound, 64-foot long steel bridge. (T. Times, 8/23/1938, p.3).

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Cooney Transfer & Storage Co. (Tacoma); Bridges--Whidbey Island; Trailers; Shipping--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Close-up view on August 23, 1938, of Star Iron & Steel Company bridge constructed in five short days for damaged Whidbey Island-Mukilteo ferry landing. The 30,000 pound, 64-foot long steel structure balances on a special Becholdt-made trailer. (T. Times, 8/23/38, p.3).

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Cooney Transfer & Storage Co. (Tacoma); Bridges--Whidbey Island; Trailers; Shipping--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Waste heat boiler at the Tacoma smelter (ASARCO) installed by Puget Sound Machinery Depot, August 24, 1939.

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Copper industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

Atlas Foundry furnace. Workman igniting the foundry's new furnace. Glimpse of the foundry interior as it was photographed in January of 1937.

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1930-1940; Steel industry--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Atlas Foundry furnace as photographed in January of 1937. Workmen inside foundry. Laborer pouring glowing molten iron or steel into barrel. The process appears to be the method and machinery used prior to the foundry's installation of a new furnace.

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1930-1940; Steel industry--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Leo Olsen lost the use of his legs to infantile paralysis when he was 9 years old, but he was determined to be part of WWII. Although a tailor by trade, and a pianist, he found work at the Olin Coporation aluminum plant, on the tide flats, running one of the giant cranes that towered over the electric furnaces. This photograph of Mr. Olsen at the controls of his crane was taken in June of 1944 for the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce. (T. Times, 6/27/44, p. 2). Tacoma Chamber of Commerce Manpower publicity at Olin Corp.

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Handicapped persons--Tacoma; Olin Industries, Inc. (Tacoma); Olsen, Leo;

This aerial view of the large Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. plant in Nalley Valley and the area south of Center Street was taken in July of 1941. Atlas' address was listed as 3012 South Wilkeson Street which is the street running vertically on the left. The plant lay between South Tacoma Way (top) and Center St. (at photograph's bottom) The Lincoln Heights housing development would be carved out of the mostly wooded area south of the plant. At the top of the photograph is the area which would become the Tacoma Mall. [Also dated 08-26-1941]

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aerial photographs; Aerial views;

Ten unidentified employees of ASARCO who attended the first meeting of the Tacoma Smelter's 25 Year Club held at the Towers, 6805 6th Ave. on April 10, 1950. The club originated with 185-207 members, all active or retired employees of the Smelter with 25 or more years of service with the company. The chairmanship was passed down at the first meeting from Earl Marble, the manager of the plant who was instrumental in setting up the group, to retired plant manager Eugene A. White..

Tacoma Smelter (Tacoma);

Dust collecting equipment at Tacoma Smelter. During 1950 the American Smelting and Refining Company added a new sulphuric acid recovery plant. Other improvements during the year included modernization of the arsenic plant and installation of new ore-handling facilities to increase capacity to 200 tons an hour, replacing facilities which had been installed before they took over the Tacoma plant in 1905. Ordered by American Air Filter Company, c/o R.E. Chase & Company, Mr. Warren.

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

Interior showing smelter job in foreground, Star Iron & Steel Co., Bob Allen. Welders are at work manufacturing parts for the Tacoma smelter, American Smelting & Refining Company.

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950; Welding--Tacoma--1940-1950; American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma);

Interior at plant, Permanente Metals, Ted Schmidt. Interior view of the pot room, laborers are pouring the molten aluminum into a mold to form pigs. Pigs will weigh between fifty and one thousand pounds. The pigs are cooled, stacked on pallets and transported to the rolling mill at Trentwood, located near Spokane, Washington. The pigs from the Mead and Tacoma plant are later re-melted in furnaces where other metallic elements are added to form standard alloys (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).

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

There's nothing wrong with this chest, it's been x-rayed says Dave Schrader to Bill Courtney, employees at Permanente Metals Corp. As part of a U.S. Public Health Service campaign, all the employees at the Kaiser Aluminum plant in Tacoma received chest x-rays in 1949. In February of 1949, Permanente employed over 3,600 men in their three Washington plants with a combined payroll exceeding $12 million. (Publicity for Permanente News, and Times Industrial Page, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman) (T.Times, 2/25/1949, p.37) TPL-3686

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Schrader, David A.; Courtney, William E.; Radiography; Health care--Tacoma--1940-1950;

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);

Pacific Iron & Steel Works, 1602 Canal St.(now Portland Ave.) The worker appears tiny next to a large piece of machinery in the foundry and the steel manufactured piece that he is working on.

Pacific Iron & Steel Works (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Steel industry--Tacoma-- 1940-1950;