Hanson-Ackerson Mill (1869-1916)

The first mill on our history tour is depicted by a plaque in the Jack Hyde park; and, ironically, it was the first mill to be built on Old Town’s waterfront. In 1868, California lumbermen Charles Hanson and John Ackerson made plans to build a large mill—it would become more than just large. The chosen site was on the deep-water shoreline next to a new settlement which was called “Tacoma”.

The Hanson-Ackerson Mill was fully operational by the late 1869 and was shipping out millions of board feet of lumber right from the start. It was called Hanson-Ackerson Mill until 1881, when Ackerson sold out to Hanson; it was then called Hanson & Co. and co-owned by Charles and his son William. By the mid-1800s, it was the largest lumber mill in the world. With no overhead cranes (like later mills) it shipped out more lumber, annually, than most other Tacoma area mills combined. When Old and New Tacoma joined as one government in 1884, the Mill’s name was changed to Tacoma Mill Co. In 1898, Charles Hanson died, and his son William took over. In 1916, William Hanson died, and the Mill was closed shortly thereafter. (Controversy exists, as to the exact date the mill closed.)

From 1869 until 1916, the mill turned out 2.5 billion board feet of lumber and consumed 65,000 acres of fir and cedar trees; these were cut in the woods by hand—long before the chain saw came along.

The Hanson-Ackerson sawmill building was 75 feet wide, and 400 feet long. The mill could cut timber 140 feet. long. Its gigantic wharf was 250 feet out of the mill, and was 1000 feet wide; a dozen ships could moor at one time.

Conveyors, coming out of the mill building, carried lumber to different locations on the wharf. As years passed, production increased with the addition of more conveyors and tramways. The mill was set back in next to the bank (south of today’s Schuster parkway overpass). This photo (looking south in the 1880s) shows the mill’s own mini-community—“Milltown”—on the upper right. A large pond for logs was just east of the mill. The low flat area (east of today’s bank) was the location of the largest mill pond. Originally this inlet was part of the bay, and it was a “natural” as a pond in which to store logs. 

Nerheim, J. N.. The History of Lumber Mills in Old Town. Tacoma, WA. Self-Published, 2004.