Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Skagit Corporation records, circa 1923-1983
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Skagit Corporation
- Title
- Skagit Corporation records
- Dates
- circa 1923-1983 (inclusive)19201988
- Quantity
- 50 boxes, (36 cubic feet)
- Collection Number
- 1991.101 (accession)
- Summary
- Materials, largely films and photographs, related to the Skagit Corporation in Sedro Woolley, which developed and manufactured machinery for the logging, construction and other industries
- Repository
-
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library
P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org - Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open to the public by appointment.
- Additional Reference Guides
-
A complete handwritten inventory of the films is available in the library.
- Languages
- English.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
In 1901, John Anderson came to Sedro-Woolley and founded a machine shop and foundry, naming it the Sedro-Woolley Iron Works. In its early years, most of its business was repair work for the mill and logging camps, but the company also manufactured metal parts, expanding to the manufacture of complete machinery in 1908, with the production of hoists and rotary pumps used in Alaska. By 1913, the company was designing and manufacturing machinery, and had purchased a steel furnace; the following year, the expanded plant was renamed Skagit Steel and Iron Works. During World War I, the plant also filled contracts from Seattle’s and Bellingham’s shipbuilding companies, as well as its usual work for logging camps, saw mills and other local industries.
The company grew throughout the 1920s, designing machinery such as the gasoline-powered hoist, which revolutionized the logging industry. Skagit also manufactured gasoline-powered rail cars for the logging industry, and in 1923, the company built its first passenger rail car. By 1929, Skagit had 30 standard models of hoists, donkey engines, speeders, railcars, locomotives and coaches in production.
Business slowed during the years of the Great Depression and as a result of mill strikes, but by the late 1930s, things began to look up. Skagit Steel & Iron Works contributed to war efforts during World War II by producing hoists, winches and cranes for used at the front and on Navy vessels. After the war, Skagit expanded its manufacturing facilities, though production slowed as a result of the postwar economy slump. By the early 1950s, business had picked up, and in 1953 Skagit won a contract to produce rifle shells for the Army, resulting in another expansion of its facility in Sedro-Woolley.
In 1962, the company reorganized and changed its named to Skagit Corporation. The company continued to expand, developing, designing and producing logging, marine deck and construction equipment. In 1969, the long-time family owned business became a subsidiary of the Bendix Corporation.
Bendix/Skagit Steel closed around 1990.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Materials, largely films and photographs (including prints, slides and negatives), related to Skagit Corporation in Sedro Woolley, which developed and manufactured machinery for the logging, construction and other industries.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Preferred Citation
Skagit Corporation Records, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
- Boxes 1-11: Photographs
- Boxes 12-13: Slides
- Boxes 14-27: Negatives
- Boxes 28-32: Papers
- Boxes 33-49: Films
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box | ||
| 1 | Photographs
Logging photographs by Darius Kinsey and lightbox transparencies
for display
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 2-3 | Photographs
Historical photographs
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 4 | Photographs
Mostly G series hoists, circa 1960s; also foundry, pattern shop,
Bellingham plant. Includes some negatives.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 5 | Photographs
SJ series equipment, T series equipments, grapple loaders.
Includes some negatives.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 6 | Photographs
1954 visit of Brigadier General John Medaris to Skagit plant;
miscellaneous equipment including towers, yarders, winches; plant interiors
including machine shop and foundry; aerial views of plant. Includes some
negatives.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 7 | Photographs
Prints from negatives # 3001-3117 and 10,000-12,124. Miscellaneous
logging equipment; construction hoist; “capabilities book.”
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 8 | Photographs:
Offshore equipments; miscellaneous photos of plant and
equipments; trade shows. Includes some negatives.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 9 | Photographs
Contact sheets and corresponding negatives (35mm), mostly labeled
with number of equipment depicted. Also foundry, tests, “unclassified
machines,” “people pics” and binder “test site.”
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 10 | Photographs
Mostly contact sheets; also some prints and negatives. Materials
removed from 7 binders and foldered. Binders titled: PR & Adv.; Shop &
Newsletter; T-Z; Service Dept. & Sub Cont.; Cranes & Construction
Equipment; CE Drill Equip.; Safety & Damage.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 11 | Photographs
Miscellaneous 35 mm. contact sheets and negatives; “drugstore”
type photo processing envelopes containing negatives and prints (color).
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 12 | Slides
35 mm slides in sleeves. Logging related images, towing winch,
slide show, including 9 folders of slide shows with scripts, plus miscellaneous
slide show scripts.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 13 | Slides
35 mm in trays and boxes. Also includes some transparencies in
larger formats.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 14 | Negatives
35 mm negatives in binders: numbered 781201-800627
|
1978-1980 |
| 15 | Negatives
35 mm negatives in binders: numbered 800701-820226
|
1980-1982 |
| 16 | Negatives
35 mm negatives in binders: numbered 820301-830618. Also
unnumbered personnel photographs.
|
1982-1983 |
| 17-26 | Negatives
4x5 negatives numbered 001 through 12,100
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 27 | Negatives
5x7 negatives and prints
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 28 | Papers
Two Advertising and publicity scrapbooks: Volume 1, 1924-1927;
Volume 2, 1928-1930
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 29 | Papers
Purchased Components list; serial number record; project list;
oversize advertisements.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 30 | Papers
Two “description of manufacture” book for metal parts, October
1957 and February 1969.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 31 | Papers
Sales brochures, advertisements
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 32 | Papers
Catalogs
|
circa 1923-1983 |
| 33-50 | Films
Approximately 350 films related to equipment and plant operations.
See inventory in library for item level listing.
|
circa 1923-1983 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Construction equipment industry--Washington (State)--Sedro Woolley
- Lumbering--Machinery--Washington (State)--Sedro Woolley
- Machinery industry--Washington (State)--Sedro Woolley
Geographical Names
- United States--Washington (State)--Sedro Woolley
Form or Genre Terms
- Film negatives
- Motion pictures
- Photographs
Finding aid prepared by Jody
Hendrickson
2010
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
