Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. An exterior view showing a cooling system at the rear of the building. Refer to D28,041-2 for a more detailed view of the cooling system.

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

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. 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. 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 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;

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;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington had its headquarters in Tacoma. Despite its name, Pennsalt did not produce table salt but instead was a basic manufacturer of chemicals from salt. It, along with Hooker Electrochemical, supplied caustic soda and chlorine to the Pacific Northwest's pulp and paper industry. View of some of the machinery used by Pennsalt in their Tideflats plant; these are believed to be rotary converters used to convert AC power to direct current. Photograph ordered by Edwin Cliffe, supt. of Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington. (Additional information provided by a reader)

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

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington had long been established in Tacoma; it was to celebrate its 25th anniversary locally in 1954. It started with a 40 acre tract of land on the Hylebos Waterway and has steadily expanded, adding new buildings and machinery, to fill the needs of the pulp and paper industry. View of machinery in Pennsalt plant; this may be a large burner. Photograph ordered by Edwin Cliffe.

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

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;

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;

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;

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. Family Day; employees' picnic and open house. An unidentified group of employees stands in front of a display case set up for the open house. Wives, husbands and children of employees were invited on this day to tour the plant. A brief program was devoted to safety measures practiced at the plant. Lunch for 300 employees and their visitors was followed by a tour of the plant. The manufacturing facility opened on the Tideflats in June of 1929 as Tacoma Electro-Chemical Co. Despite its deceptive name, Pennsalt manufactured industrial chemicals, some of which were used in the manufacture of pulp and paper. (TNT 9/6/1953, pg. A-12)

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

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;

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;

Tall tanks are shown in the interior of the Tacoma Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. Penn Salt began a $172,000 plant expansion program in 1951 where the biggest investment was in new equipment in the plant's chlorine and caustic soda departments. Some building modification was also included. Ordered by Penn Salt for their annual report. (TNT, 3/30/1951)

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

Transport tanks are shown loaded on railroad cars at the Tacoma Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company's spur. President Fred C. Shanaman announced in April 1951 that the capacity of the Tacoma plant for production of chlorine and caustic soda was being increased 30 percent. (TNT, 4/26/1951)

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

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 exterior of one of the many buildings at Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company's Tacoma plant

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

Two men are seen working on the railroad tank cars at the Tacoma Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company's spur. It was reported at the company's annual shareholders' meeting in April 1951 that Pennsalt of Washington was expanding its production of DDT at Portland by about 70 per cent. (TNT, 4/26/1951)

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

Example of General American Evaporators in place at Pennsylvania Salt. Ordered by General American Transport Corp., NY, NY, Harold Jacoby. Capacity of the Tacoma plant for production of chlorine and caustic soda was being increased 30%. Pennsalt had been granted a federal certificate of necessity for $445,450. As of March 1951, power hearings brought out the fact that chlorine and caustic sodas were ranked among the top poriority defense items, being used in aircraft manufacture and at the Hanford A-bomb plant, as well as suppllying local chemical plants and domestic needs. (TNT, 3/30/1951; 4/26/1951)

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

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;

The display of seven canisters of Flake Caustic Soda produced by the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company was taken on August 27, 1951. Flake Caustic Soda apparently was sold in several different size metal cans; only the smallest can has a handle for easy carrying. Caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide, is a white brittle solid used especially in making soap, oils, rayon and paper. It can also be in liquid or flake format, as in this particular display.

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

Workers at the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington's Taylor Way plant appear to be positioning barrels to be filled with Pennsalt chemical products in a photograph taken on October 10, 1951. Rollers are set in the floor to then move the filled barrels to the next point in the assembly line. Enormous pipes seem to hang from the ceiling; large scales can be spotted behind the barrels.

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

Interior exposure of Pennsylvania Salt plant. Two employees of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington appear to be preparing to fill the large tanker car full of liquid chlorine in a photograph taken in October, 1951. Pennsylvania Salt (Pennsalt) was one of Tacoma's largest chemical plants, beginning operations on the Tideflats in the late 1920's. Major products were caustic soda and chlorine; in liquid form, chlorine was especially valued as sterilizing agents for water purification and sewage treatment. TPL-10066

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

This photograph of six cans of caustic soda manufactured by Pennsalt was taken on September 15, 1951. The black metallic cans are of various sizes; five of them contain flake caustic soda while the remaining container is labeled solid caustic soda. Caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide, is a white brittle solid used especially in making soap, rayon and paper. It can be in liquid, solid or flake form. The Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. had a large chemical plant in the Tideflats which manufactured basic chemicals from salt for pulp mills and then onto other products.

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

A Pennsalt employee carefully monitors a pressure gauge at the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington's tideflats plant in October, 1951. He has one hand on a handle and stares directly at the gauge. Two tanks of liquid chlorine flank a Toledo scale nearby.

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

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;