Introduction: The Lumber Mills of Old Town Tacoma

Welcome to this tour of Tacoma history. The information and narrative included in this tour is drawn from a self-published booklet, entitled "The History of Lumber Mills in Old Town: When Lumber was Gold" by J. N. Nerheim and published in 2004

The history of Old Town has been neglected—almost since the beginning. It was a most colorful and unique district in the early days, and of course the birthplace of Tacoma. The community itself, however, was only half of the importance—historically speaking; the other half was its waterfront, from the shore (near the foot of Starr St.) two miles west to the Tacoma Smelter. In history books and articles this stretch of waterfront has only been referred to as: “a busy smoke-filled shoreline teeming with lumber mills”. This was true only during the first half of the 20^th century, and there were roughly only a half-dozen mills operating successfully. Their success and duration did not come about as the simple matter of: “pick a site—build a mill—become a successful lumber producer”. 

In reality, the usage of this two-mile stretch as a perfect site for mill construction came about in the mid-1880s, but the advancement was far from simple. Mills (primarily shingle) were built, lost to fire, damaged by bank cave-ins, and failures due to the soon-to-come depression of the 1890s. Mills were planned and reported (to the media) as under construction or actually up and running, but many reports were false. All told, the number of mills (actual, or just planned) from the 1880s into the first quarter of the 20th century was over 40 in count! Also, the waterfront had other businesses (between the lumber mill sites) which have gone to obscurity; some small businesses (fish marts, boat building, etc.) never got into city directories, or any records establishing their location and existence. They can never be given credit when doing the history of this area; just a mention that many did exist—like honoring unmarked graves.

Today, the stretch of waterfront known as Ruston Way is lined with a sidewalk which allows one to visit the sites of all the early businesses which once flourished. Bronze plaques depicting mill sites have been placed in many locations; these plaques were designed and sculptured by Mr. Paul R. Michaels—a native of Tacoma—who has a desire to honor not only the mills with plaques, but all of the early businesses (which we can establish) that have gone to obscurity. Our goal now, however, is: “Do the mills first”.

Mr. Michaels’ bronze plaques are limited in legend space; the “rest of the story” is told here, as a combination history and walking tour—covering all the mills during the great lumber era. Although it is known that Tacoma’s “Tideflats” was a great lumber producing area, Old Town’s waterfront is where it all started.

Whether you take the tour or just read about the mills, it is a rare look at one of Tacoma’s early important industries. But first . . .

A Brief History of “Ruston Way”

Ruston Way is the stretch of waterfront along the south shore of Commencement Bay—starting at the foot of McCarver Street (in Tacoma’s “Old Town”) and ending (to the west) at what was “ASARCO” (once known as the Tacoma Smelter). This two-mile stretch was once the site of boat building firms, fish canneries, brick manufacturing plants, and other businesses; but most importantly, it was the site covered by more lumber and shingle mills than anywhere else in the city of Tacoma. From 1869 until 1977 the sound of saws singing and the smell of fir and cedar filled the air. Although many mills came and went, the overlap of mill companies which operated (along what is today Ruston Way) kept thousands of men working for 108 years.

To start with, an understanding of the early waterfront layout itself must be done—a mill’s location in relation to the south to north streets of Tacoma’s North End. They were designated as being at “the foot of” a named street; (numbered streets run east to west). Because of high bluffs and the general terrain (and a railroad line) the actual “foot” never reached the shoreline—except on some maps drawn up by someone who never actually saw the area. The “foot of” system lined up quite well from McCarver Street West to Union Street, but from there on it got complicated.

In the 1880s, developers like Allen C. Mason bought land along the waterfront. There were sub-divisions (west of Union) in a triangular shape but at 45 degrees to the city of Tacoma’s south to north configuration. There were three triangles: “Wallace’s Addition”, “Mason’s Waterfront Addition” and “Mason’s Shore Line Addition” —all side by side—with their own street names; this mess finally stopped at the foot of Gove Street—a mile down the line from Union. On the map, when a city street such as “Proctor” hit the Wallace addition, it took a 45-degree turn and then became “Dale” Street to the shoreline; but this spot was really the foot of “Adams” Street—if a parallel line was drawn down Adams Street (east of Proctor). The locations of mills, in books and on maps, are somewhat inaccurate because of this.

In this tour, the reference: “foot of” may only be accurate within one block (obviously). The “map” name given to the shoreline road was “Front Street” – but no actual road existed. To get to a site (down the line from Old Town) one had to walk down a trail from above, or walk the beach at low tide.

The Northern Pacific Railroad was well established and access along the shoreline was soon to come in the late 1800s, but not by the N.P. – a single rail line was put in by Allen C. Mason. The new Tacoma smelter was going up, and Mason’s plan was to run a two-mile-long line to it from Old Town; the N. P. railroad’s terminus was east of Old Town, and they had no access to the smelter. Mason let it be known that he would continue his rail line south of the smelter, and this worried the N. P. since the smelter (and other businesses) could then ship and receive products by way of Mason’s private line. Another “rumor” from Mason was that he was going to sell his line to a rival railroad; this scared the N. P. so they offered Mason a high amount for the line – which he could not refuse. The line never did go beyond the smelter; The N. P. connected its track to Mason’s, which went through Old Town’s first lumber mill (near the foot of Starr Street).

By 1909, the Milwaukee Railroad wanted to compete with the N. P. for business along the Old Town waterfront. Since the N. P. owned the Mason line and the waterfront, they would not allow any Milwaukee cars on their tracks. So the Milwaukee built a single rail line on pilings, over the water (along Old Town only) paralleling the N. P. tracks, and then built a ferry slip mid-way down the waterfront where full rail cars could be barged across the bay to the Tideflats. Some Old Town mills had to move a few structures so Milwaukee tracks could pass by – but the mills eventually benefited from this.

In 1913, a wooden planked roadway was built from Old Town to the smelter; it ran between the N. P. and Milwaukee tracks and was the first major “highway” along the Old Town waterfront. It lasted for a dozen years, then was razed – the shoreline dredged and filled in – and the paved Ruston Way (we know today) was finished and in use in 1925. 

Spearheaders

Before starting on the history of lumber mills, we must mention the unusual way the shingle business started in Old Town. No actual mill, as such, started it all; the first to make shingles and send them east was a tub & pail factory built (at the foot of Proctor St.) in 1885 by Hans Knatvold and Josephus Caughran. It was called “Puget Sound Woodenware Co.” and shingles were among the products offered. (Northwest cedar was found to be superior – for longevity – when it came to shingles). But after only a year and a half, the woodenware factory burned down, and was not rebuilt; it could have become the first real shingle mill on Old Town’s waterfront. Credit must be given to Knatvold & Caughran for sending the first shingles east – inspiring others to follow in their footsteps, and start building shingle mills within a year’s time.

How It All Started

Today, few wooded areas remain in Tacoma to remind us of the once vast forest which covered the entire region. At one time, the lumber mill development made Tacoma literally “the lumber capital of the world” for many years. Although Old Town’s waterfront dominated, with a string of mills (and is the location where it all started in 1869) the first mill in what is now Tacoma was built in 1852 by Nicholas Delin, one of the first settlers in this new territory. Delin’s little mill was situated at a location near what is today So. 25th and Pacific Ave. The mill was very primitive and the saw, called a “muley”, was (stream) water powered. The choice for the site was two-fold: (1) the source of the power needed; (2) it was close to the head of Commencement Bay, where the cut lumber would be exported by sailing ship.

There were, however, three problems which plagued the Delin Mill: (1) it turned out boards which were thicker at the ends than the middle (and the reverse – thicker in the middle than the ends); (2) the “head” of the bay was more shallow than the shoreline to the west, and ships could not come close to the shore for easy transport of lumber; (3) the Native Americans!

Things were basically peaceful, although the white man was encroaching upon their homeland; a “reservation” program had been started to confine them within defined boundaries. They were confused about being “herded” together – in territory which was always theirs. The area from the Delin Mill to the bay was supposed to be white man’s territory, but the boundaries were somehow undefined; the Indians thought it to be theirs, and became angered. The white man’s “take-over” (in general) started what was known as: “The Indian Wars of 1855-56”. They were actually not all-out wars, but a six month “scare” and “agitation”, which forced Delin (and other settlers) to flee to the safety of Fort Steilacoom. When the scare was over, Delin and others did not return to their claims; the beginning of Tacoma really starts when Job Carr built his cabin in 1864 on the site which is now “Old Town”. 

As for the Delin Mill, it was tried later by others who could not make a go of it; poor lumber quality and quantity doomed it. The machinery was sold to a party from out of this areas, who thought it could be made to work. Tacoma’s lumber industry started on the shores below Old Town; it would be nearly 100 years (since the Delin Mill) before the head-of-the-bay (Tideflats area) would become the primary site for exporting.

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

Per the author, the following organizations and individuals have contributed much, in order to make this book possible; many thanks to all.

• Tacoma Public Library (main branch)—Northwest Room staff
• WA State Historical Society—Research Center Library
• All of the “old-timers” (long-since-gone)
• “Buzz” Grant—of Ticor Title Company
• Paul R. Michaels & Ron Karabaich
• The Tacoma Historical Society
• Don Buchanan (1909-2004)