E. J. McNeeley Lumber & Shingle Co. (1902-1910)

This needs an intro

 E. J. McNeeley Lumber Co. started in 1902. McNeely came to Tacoma in the late 1880s and after trying various trades decided to go into the shingle business since there was a great need for them in the east. After an unsuccessful attempt to rebuild the Puget Sound Shingle Co. he went to Everett and purchased a mill. His success there allowed him to buy three more mills; his goal however was to build a mill in Tacoma.

By 1901, McNeeley found his mill site—adjacent to Tacoma Cedar (Shingle) Co. Built by Hoken Lundgren in 1901 (indicated at ⑫ at the foot of Lawrence Street) and Cascade Shingle Co., built by Thomas Galbraith and Joseph Gawley (at ⑬ foot of Warner Street). Both shingle mills were sold to McNeeley within a year after opening, but they operated through 1903-04 under their original names. In 1903 Tacoma Cedar Co. burned down; McNeeley financed Lundgren to rebuild. This time it was a “combination” mill: shingles and lumber. McNeeley absorbed the Tacoma Cedar and Cascade Mills to create one large lumber and shingle manufacturing complex; his “dream mill”.

As for Hoken Lundgren: he went to Everett to run a shingle mill; McNeeley owned four shingle mills in Everett and it is possible that he traded one of them for the Tacoma Cedar Company. After Galbraith and Gawley sold the Cascade Mill, they moved on. Gawley manufactured mill machinery in Tacoma and Galbraith became president of the Eatonville Lumber Co. in 1910. In 1910, luck ran out for Edwin J. McNeeley: a fire destroyed his entire mill complex. He did not rebuild. Still possessing funds, he invested in mills away from Tacoma but continued to live here and always called Tacoma his home town.

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