Girls from Catholic College visiting Permanente plant, Bill Gorman. Students watch while molten alumina is siphoned from a reduction cell into a large crucible at the Permanente plant. Tacoma Catholic College had purchased the former Weyerhaeuser mansion, Haddaway Hall at 4301 No. Stevens St., and converted it into a Junior College for Women.

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Students--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Girls from Catholic College visiting Permanente plant, Bill Gorman. Several students from the freshman chemistry class at Tacoma Catholic College watch as the white, powdery alumina is added to a reduction pot in preparation to being melted and poured into molds to form pig aluminum. This was the first step in creating the later stages of aluminum that would be used in making Kaiser aluminum products from roofing and siding to airplane parts, ice cube trays and pots and pans. (TNT, 3/1948)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Students--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Permanente. An employee of Permanente at the Tacoma plant looks very grateful for the medical assistance received from a nurse in the medical unit. He is now wearing a large, gauze bandage on his thumb. In 1947-1948 Permanente reported having nearly 5,000 employees in their several locations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Owens Lake, Natividad, Oakland, and Moss Landing, California; and Mead, Trentwood and Tacoma, Washington. (Permanente Metals Corporation Annual Report 1947-1948)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Infirmaries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nurses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Wounds & injuries--Tacoma; Accidents--Tacoma;

Permanente. Two men are having fun with a load of alumina, a fine white powder that is refined from alumium-bearing ore, bauxite. Bauxite was mined in South America, refined, using the Bayer process, in Baton Bouge and shipped by rail to the Pacific Northwest where it was converted into primary aluminum. Four pounds of bauxite were required to obtain two pounds of alumina shich yields one pound of aluminum. As of September 1948 nearly 500 boxcar loads of alumina per month were brought to Tacoma and Mead aluminum reduction plants, thereby becoming one of the largest users of boxcars in the Northwest.(Permanente Metals Corporation 1947-1948 Annual Report; T.Times, 9/6/1948, p.12)

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

Permanente. The white, powdery alumina was discharged from bins into electrolytic cells known as reduction pots where it was periodically stirred. After heating in the reduction pots the molten aluminum was siphoned from the pots into 1 1/2 ton ladles. The ladles would be transferred by crane to the end of the potroom buildings where the molten metal was poured into molds forming pigs weighing 50 to 1,000 pounds. (Permanente Metals Corporation 1947-1948 Annual Report) TPL-4541

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Founding--Tacoma--1940-1950; Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Permanente Metals Tacoma plant was a modern aluminum reduction plant. The plant had two pot lines that produced about 42,000,000 pounds of aluminum per year. This plant was located in the Tide Flats area and was spread over 129 acres, the plant went into official production on October 31, 1947. View of Permanente employee using the time clock (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

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

View of new pot line at the Tacoma reduction plant of the Permanente Metals Corp. It is the first reduction plant in the world to be thoroughly equipped with a scrubber system. This equipment is able to automatically wash away the fumes that are given off in the reduction process. The system consists of individual collectors connected to each pot and several washing stations. Permanente staff can be seen in the center area of the reduction plant.

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Equipment; Machinery; Control rooms--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma);

Permanente Metals took over the Olin Aluminum facilities, that had shut down in November 1945, these facilities had not been in use until now. Kaiser bought the plant from the United States War Assets Administration, they then invested over one million dollars to modernize the plant. The Tacoma plant featured many self cleaning machines and a knowledgeable staff (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

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

Permanente would be producing 42,000,000 pounds of pure aluminum per year at the Tacoma plant. Tacoma's output will supplement the Mead Reduction plant near Spokane, Washington. Permanente Metals delayed their plant opening, until the newest generator of the Grand Coulee power plant was in operation. View of Permanente technicians checking equipment (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

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

Charles P. Love, General Superintendent of Permanente Metals, along with plant technicians activated the first pot line in Tacoma, making October 31, 1947 the first official day of operations. Other pot lines will be activated, once the plant can make certain everything is operating without problems. The plant is expected to be producing at full capacity by the end of November. View of plant technician checking dials and control system (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

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

The Pacific Northwest offered Permanente Metals, the producers of Kaiser aluminum, inexpensive hydro-electric power. In order to produce one pound of aluminum approximately 10 kilowatts of electricity is needed, therefore the Northwest is the ideal location for the Tacoma and Mead, near Spokane, plants. Interior view of the pot room, the white powdery substance is alumina, which is discharged into the reduction pots, the molten aluminum is siphoned from the pots into one and a half ton ladles (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).

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

Permanente Metals began production at their newly equipped aluminun plant on Taylor Way in Tacoma on October 31, 1947. Permanente purchased the former Olin Corp. facility, built in 1942, from the federal government and spent two years modernizing the plant. The remodeled Tacoma plant was the first in the nation to have self cleaning reduction pots with scrubbing systems, minimizing pollution released into the environment (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).

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

The Tacoma plant of the Permanente Metals Corporation accomplished its first casting of "pigs" from molten metal in November of 1947. Plant employees in the pot room were photographed getting the newly molten metal in the ladle ready to pour into a mold to form pigs. Cast pigs could weigh from fifty and one thousand pounds depending on size and composition. Once cooled, the pigs were stacked on pallets and transported to the rolling mill at Trentwood, located near Spokane, Washington. The pigs from the Mead and Tacoma plant would later be re-melted in furnaces where other metallic elements were added to form standard alloys. Tacoma's Permanente plant produced aluminum in commercial quantities for Henry J. Kaiser's industrial operations. (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948; T.Times 11-19-47, p. 18-alt. photograph & article).

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

Shiploading aluminum ingots at Shaffer Terminal #3, Permanente Metals, Pat Love. Aluminum from Permanente Metals Corporation is being loaded through the hatch of an Argentine government freighter, the Palamar. The ship was formerly the Spica, operated by the U.S. navy during World War II. Her captain on this delivery is Jose Pita. (T.Times, 8/28/1947, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shaffer Terminals, Inc. (Tacoma); Loading docks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cargo ships--Argentina; Hoisting machinery;

Shiploading aluminum ingots at Shaffer Terminal #3, Permanente Metals, Pat Love. An artistic shot of shiploading at Shaffer Terminals, Inc. Aluminum from Permanente Metals Corporation is being loaded through the hatch of an Argentine government freighter, the Palamar. The aluminum was produced at Permanente Metals Corp.'s Spokane reduction plant. It was hauled across the state by rail and delivered to Shaffer Terminals. (T.Times, 8/28/1947, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shaffer Terminals, Inc. (Tacoma); Loading docks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cargo ships--Argentina; Hoisting machinery;

Shiploading aluminum ingots at Shaffer Terminal #3, Permanente Metals, Pat Love. An artistic shot of shiploading at Shaffer Terminals, Inc. The men are loading aluminum from Permanente Metals Corporation through the hatch of an Argentine government freighter, the Palamar. (T.Times, 8/28/1947, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shaffer Terminals, Inc. (Tacoma); Loading docks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cargo ships--Argentina; Hoisting machinery;

Shiploading aluminum ingots at Shaffer Terminal #3, Permanente Metals, Pat Love. "Pigs" of aluminum produced by Permanente Metals Corporation in Spokane are ready to be loaded into an Argentine government freighter, the Palamar, at Shaffer Terminals. (T.Times, 8/28/1947, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shaffer Terminals, Inc. (Tacoma); Loading docks--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Shiploading aluminum ingots at Shaffer Terminal #3, Permanente Metals, Pat Love. 4,000 metric tons (8,818,000 pounds) of aluminum, made into "pigs" by Permanente Metals Corporation in Spokane sits in one of the warehouses at Shaffer Terminals, ready to be loaded into an Argentine government freighter, the Palamar. This shipment represents the largest single shipment made by the Kaiser organization to date. As large as it is, this load will only fill one-half of the holds in the ship. (T.Times, 8/28/1947, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shaffer Terminals, Inc. (Tacoma); Loading docks--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Permanente Metals, Mr. Love. Olin opened a plant at this location September 1942. In December 1946 the company was sold to Kaiser Aluminum who operated Permanente Metals. The Tacoma plant had its own aluminum reduction plant. Permanente produced "pig" aluminum that was transported to Kaiser plants in Trentwood, near Spokane, to be made into specific grades of aluminum by the addition of other metallic elements such as copper, zinc, silicon, magnesium, manganese, etc. Soda ash from California and alumina from Baton Rough were brought to Tacoma to produce the "pigs". (PMC Annual Report for 1948)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Guards--Tacoma--1940-1950; Private police--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gates--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

From the evidence provided by this photograph, the security guards at the Kaiser aluminum plant on the Tideflats had a pretty easy life in September of 1947. But one has to wonder what the corporate headquarters for Permanente Metals Corporation thought about the security at their Tacoma plant when they saw this carefully posed picture. The Tacoma plant was only one year old, having been taken over by Permanente Metals Corp. from the Olin Corp. in 1946. (Permanente Metals, Mr. Love) TPL-9603

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Guards--Tacoma--1940-1950; Private police--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gatehouses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Ace Furnace and Steel Company. Exterior of the plant facilities. Ace Furnace and Steel Company manufactured furnaces, steel tanks, gasoline tankers and trailers, prefabricated service stations, and subcontracted on boats including interior work, ventilating ducts, galleys, etc. They also handled sheet metal work and blower and ventilating systems. (T.Times, 9/4/1946)

Ace Furnace & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Heating & ventilation industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Buildings--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Atlas Foundry, crane for Broderick & Bascomb, wire rope. A crane is being used to set a pole alongside a railroad track. Atlas Foundry and Machine Company was engaged at this time in work for plywood, pulp and paper, railroad and other industries. The company reports work was coming in from all over the west coast. This photograph was used in a newspaper article, Tacoma News Tribune, February 14, 1950, about the poles manufactured by Cascade Pole Company, located on Port of Tacoma Road, that were used for telephone and telegraph poles throughout the world. (T.Times, 8/28/1946, p.5)

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Hoisting machinery; Railroad cars--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Atlas Foundry & Machine Company. Cranes and lifts for Broderick & Bascomb wire rope. A crane picks up metal scrap using a large magnetized plate. Atlas Foundry worked on their shop layout to increase efficiency as they prepare for possibly unprecedented large volumes of business this year. The foundry manufactured steel, iron and brass castings. The company was established in 1899 on a ten acre site at 3012 South Wilkeson. They were capable of producing 80,000 pounds of steel per day. (T.Times, 8/28/1946, p.5)

Atlas Foundry & Machine Co. (Tacoma); Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Hoisting machinery;

Atlas Foundry, crane for Broderick & Bascomb, wire rope. Atlas Foundry and Machine Company supplied castings for firms building new machines which kept the company in touch with the general building up of all industries in the area after the war. (T.Times, 8/28/1946, p.5)

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

Star Iron and Steel Company, interior of plant showing machinery. The information from the upper right corner is: S328 - 1945; Typical Turret Frame Assembly for 50 Ton Capacity Dry Dock Crane, Star Iron & Steel Co., Tacoma, Wash. The Star Iron and Steel Company manufactured heavy cranes and logging machinery. They made some of the largest and heaviest cranes used by the US navy and industry. (T. Times, 2/26/46)

Star Iron & Steel Co. (Tacoma); Steel industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Pictures of assembly line at Nelson Boiler for Pacific Iron & Steel. Nelson Boiler Co. strengthened the company by consolidating with the iron and steel industry. They relocated into expanded facilities in order to fill Navy orders for steel barges. Interior view of covered plant while laborers are working.

Steel industry--Tacoma; Iron & steel workers--Tacoma; Defense industry--Tacoma; Nelson Boiler Co. (Tacoma);

Pictures of assembly line at Nelson Boiler for Pacific Iron & Steel. Nelson Boiler Co. strengthened the company by consolidating with the iron and steel industry. They relocated into expanded facilities in order to fill Navy orders for steel barges. The new facilities enabled the company to keep Navy barges covered during building process. Interior view of covered plant.

Steel industry--Tacoma; Defense industry--Tacoma; World War, 1939-1945--Economic & industrial aspects--Tacoma; Nelson Boiler Co. (Tacoma);

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;

Foundry operations - Pacific Iron & Steel Works. Pacific Iron & Steel was housed in a two-story wood & sheet metal structure at 1602 Canal St. (now Portland Ave.) The company, founded in 1914, manufactured logging and hoisting machinery, steel castings and dredging machinery. A worker is pictured here on January 10, 1943, turning the wheel which operates the large machine before him.

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

Pacific Iron & Steel Works, 1602 Canal St. (now Portland Ave.) An employee turns a wheel operating a large piece of machinery in the foundry.

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