Exterior view of large Carstens Packing Co. plant taken in mid-August of 1926. The meat packing firm was located at 1623 East "J" St. in the Tideflats, now the site of the Northwest Detention Center. Carstens relocated to Tacoma in 1903 and would later be known as the largest meat packing company on the West Coast with plants in Tacoma, Spokane and Seattle. In 1926 Carstens put forth plans to build a new four-story unit to hold the sausage factory, sausage coolers, lard refinery and smoke houses, beef coolers and beef sales coolers. The company sought to replace annually older, outdated buildings with permanent reinforced concrete construction. The gradual replacement meant that no sections of the plant would be out of commission before their replacements were erected. Fires in 1914, 1916 and shortly after caused the company to incur $750,000 in losses. The replacement of wooden buildings by concrete structures would make the plant more modernized as well as fireproof. (TDL 3-27-26, p. 10-article; TNT 3-31-27, p.6-article)

Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Carstens Packing Co. building as viewed on October 13, 1932; two KMO antennae in sight. Completed in 1931, this $150,000 building housed the executive offices of the company. Despite the nation's economic woes, Carstens continued to do annual business of about 15 million dollars. TPL-5919; G34.1-166 (TDL 2-9-32, C-7-article & alternate photograph)

Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Radio antennas--Tacoma;

Carsten- Hygrade employees pose in the yard at the meat packing facility at 1623 East "J" St. According to Richards Studio notes, the picture is of 300-400 people. The locally owned Carstens Meat Packing got its start in Tacoma in 1903. In 1954, it was sold to the Hygrade Food Products Corporation. In 1990, the company made the decision to close its Tacoma plant.

Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Carstens-Hygrade (Tacoma)--Employees;