Washington Lumber Co. / Bayview Lumber Co. (1903-1907)

Intro needed here

The Washington Lumber Co. was built in 1903 at the foot of Puget Sound Street by E. J. Felt and Gustavus Palmer. Felt was involved in building street railway systems in the City of Tacoma and Gus Palmer was with the N. P. Railroad after he came to Tacoma in 1883. He was warden at McNeil Island Prison in the 1890s, then went into partnership with E. J. Felt.

The initial purpose of their mill was to cut railway ties (for Felt’s railway system). They scrimped on the machinery they installed: it was archaic and came from Port Madison on Bainbridge Island, one of the first pioneer mill sites. The machinery was 50 years old and in no way could it produce lumber that was up-to-standard. Some new equipment was installed but orders were slow and the mill eventually went into receivership to Abraham C. Young by mid-1904.

In 1905, Frank Gougar bought Washington Lumber Co. from A.C. Young for a mere $10,000. Gougar ran the mill as Bayview Lumber Co. through 1907, but no records of production (or existence) of the mill show up after this time. We can assume that obsolescence was the reason for the mill’s closure. As to what became of it, it was either too costly to re-fit new machinery and was razed, or it caught fire and was destroyed when McNeeley’s complex went up in 1910.

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