Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division records, 1892-2001

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division
Title
Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division records
Dates
1892-2001 (inclusive)
1926-2000 (bulk)
Quantity
21 linear ft.
Collection Number
XOE_CPNWS0157gp (collection)
Summary
The Georgia-Pacific Corporation (GP), Bellingham Division records date from 1892 to 2001, and consist of administrative records, publications, photographic materials, audio-visual recordings, charts and maps. The Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corporation (GP) acquired a mill site on Bellingham's waterfront in 1963. Operations included pulping and tissue-making, a chemical plant, and a research lab. The mill was a major employer in Bellingham, and produced hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue during its peak years.
Repository
Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

In 1925, Washington state businessman Ossian Anderson purchased a mill site on Bellingham's downtown waterfront, which operated as the Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co. for the next four decades. In 1963, the Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corporation (GP) acquired the site and, in addition to continuing pulping and tissue-making operations, expanded to include a chemical plant and research lab. A great deal of research and innovation took place at the Bellingham mill throughout the twentieth century. For example, the Bellingham Barker was developed, allowing logs to be stripped of their bark through a hydraulic process as opposed to by hand. Furthermore, a number waste by-products created during the pulping process were found useful in other industries like agriculture, mining, and road building. The mill was a major employer in Bellingham, and produced hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue during its peak years.¹

During the 1970s and 1980s, the mill faced significant local pressure to upgrade its environmental safety standards and shut down environmentally harmful operations. In 1999, an explosion at the steam plant raised new concerns about the safety of employees at the mill as well as the surrounding community. Facing increasing pressures regarding environmental and industrial safety, and impacted by the energy crisis of 2000-2001, GP decided to terminate its Bellingham pulp mill operations in March 2001. The closure was accompanied by the loss of approximately 420 jobs.²

In 2005, GP reached agreement with the Port of Bellingham to transfer its waterfront properties to the Port in exchange for the cost and responsibility of site clean-up. In December 2007, GP (by then under the ownership of Koch Industries) terminated its remaining tissue plant operations on Bellingham's waterfront.

Sources: ¹ “Smells Like Money: The Story of Bellingham’s Georgia Pacific Plant,” documentary by David Albright in conjunction with Western Washington University and the Northwest Film School; ² G-P Press Release No. C-1665 (March 30, 2001).

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division records date from 1892 to 2001, and consist of administrative records, publications, photographic materials, audio-visual recordings, charts and maps. The collection includes some records from the Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co., which preceded Georgia-Pacific in ownership of the Bellingham mill site.

Administrative records date from around 1917 to 2000, and include a small assortment of financial records, older equipment and machinery records, and documents relating to the mill’s history. There are also a few budget manuals, annual reports, and accounting records from the Ketchikan Pulp Company, the Fidalgo Manufacturing Company, the Mitchell Bay Lime Company, and the Puget Sound & Cascade Railway Company.

Publications span the dates 1926-2001, and include the official reports from the Bellingham mill, as well as employee newsletters and promotional items. The collection includes a nearly complete set of Puget Parade issues, which was the Bellingham Division's official publication. There are also a number of public relations materials, including commemorative and educational books, flyers, and posters. Other publications come from a variety of companies and organizations primarily associated with the timber, pulping, and tissue industries.

Photographs, negatives, and slides date from around 1892 to 2000. The collection includes both color and black & white photographs documenting plant employees, machinery, and activities. There are also a few oversized photographs depicting aerial images of the Bellingham mill site and logging operations in the Pacific Northwest. Negatives are generally labeled, and oftentimes correspond with the photographic prints. Slides are also mostly labeled, and document primarily plant machinery and equipment.

Audio-visual materials are comprised of audio cassettes, VHS and non-VHS video tapes, and 16mm film reels dating between 1960 and 1990. Most of these materials relate to pulp and paper-making processes, and logging, forestry, and conservation issues. The collection contains videos that focus on human resource enhancement and training, as well as some advertisements and news clips promoting Georgia-Pacific products and operations.

Charts and maps dated 1938-1952 document Puget Sound waterways including the Swinomish Slough, Guemes Channel, Padilla Bay, and Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The collection is open to the public. Certain audio-visual materials require special equipment, and arrangements to use these items should be made in advance. Contact repository for details.

Preferred Citation

Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division records are organized according to the following series arrangement:

  • Series I. Administrative records, circa 1917-2000
  • Series II. Publications, 1926-2001
  • Series III. Photographs, negatives, and slides, circa 1892-2000
  • Series IV. Audio-visual materials, circa 1960-1990
  • Series V. Charts and maps, 1938-1952

Acquisition Information

The records were donated by the Georgia-Pacific Corporation in 2006.

Processing Note

Four nitrate film reels were removed from the collection and are awaiting transfer to a more stable format.

Processing Note

About Harmful Language and Content

To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content

Bibliography

Albright, David Michio Smells Like Money: The Story of Bellingham's Georgia-Pacific Plant. Bellingham, Wash. Northwest Film School 2006

Related Materials

The Waterfront Oral History Project records and the Pulp Friction interviews contain related archival material and are also available at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series I :   Administrative recordscirca 1917-2000 Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division and Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co.
1931-2000
Equipment and machinery records
Box/Folder
1/1
Alcohol Plant
1944
1/2
Alcohol Plant
1945 February 22 - 1945 October 17
1/3
Bleach Plant
1950
2/1
Office Equipment
1950-1953
2/2
Screen Room and Steam Plant
1949
Box/Folder
3/1
History of Puget Sound Pulp & Timber Co.
1931 March 1
3/2
Income summaries
1936-1963
3/3
Registry of Stills (Form 26, Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, Alcohol Tax Unit, Bureau of internal Revenue
1942 March 25
3/4
Supplement to amended application for loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and Public Works Administration, Washington, D.C.
1933 Arpil 13
3/5
Visitors' registers
circa 1990s-2000
3/6-3/7
Waterway remediation materials
circa 1990-1995
Ketchikan Pulp Company
1968-1969
Box/Folder
3/8
Budget manuals
1968-1969
Other companies
1917-1929
Box/Folder
3/9
Fidalgo Pulp Manufacturing Company report and accounts
1928 December 31 - 1929 March 31
3/10
Mitchell Bay Lime Company report
1929 August 31
3/11
Puget Sound & Cascade Railway accounting report
1917 June 30 - 1927 December 31

Series II :   Publications1926-2001 Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division and Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co. official publications
1939-2000
Box/Folder
4/1-4/6
Annual reports and reviews
1939-1962; 1976-1997
5/1-5/2
Annual reports and reviews
1998-2000
5/3-5/4
Bellingham Week: Crews, News, and Views
1991-1997
5/5
Correspondence and other materials related to Georgia-Pacific official publications
circa 1970s
6/1
Correspondence and other materials related to Georgia-Pacific official publications
circa 1970s
6/2-6/5
Growth
1966-1998 (not inclusive)
6/6
Growth Rings
1974 May and November
7/1-7/2
Labor Pains
1978 July - 1979 February
7/3
Newsletter
1966 December - 1967 January
7/4-7/10
Puget Parade
1957 March - 1990 October (not inclusive)
8/1-8/4
Puget Parade
1991 Fall - 1996 Fall/Winter (not inclusive)
Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division special publications
circa 1980-2000
Folder
Folder 1
"71 Years in Whatcom County"
1996 Feburary 25
Folder 1
"Memories of 65 Years - Celbrating 65 Years of Pulp & Paper in Bellingham"
1991 September 25
Folder 1
Miscellaneous advertisements, education, and promotional materials
circa 1980-2000
Box/Folder
8/5-8/8
Miscellaneous advertisements, education, and promotional materials
circa 1980-2000
Ketchikan Pulp Company publications
circa 1950-1958
Box/Folder
8/9
Annual reports
1955-1958
8/10
Miscellaneous informational publications
circa 1950s
Other publications
1926-2000
Box/Folder
9/1
American Forest Association - Green America
1985
9/2
Evergreen Foundation - Evergreen
1994
9/3
Fairhaven Gazette
1992 Spring
9/4
Lynden Tribune - "Farm Review"
1979 January 17
9/5
NC Machinery Co. - Action
1972 Summer - 1980 Spring
9/6
Whatcom County Business Pulse
2000 April
9/7
Miscellaneous publications
circa 1926-1999
10/1
Miscellaneous publications
circa 1989-1999
10/2
Newspaper clippings
circa 1978-1983
Folder
Folder 1
Newspaper clippings (enlarged)
1950 October 4; 1961 April 30; 1990 July 3
Folder 1
Newspapers special editions
1950 October 4; 1953 April 26; 1965 March 26; 1974 March 3; 1978 October 27; 1978 December 31; 1979 January 17
Books
1952-2001
oversize-box
Oversize Box 1
Associated Sand & Gravel Co., Everett, WA - Bison Information Book, Vol. II (describing a new type of floor and roof "slab" construction
1952
Oversize Box 1
Bellingham Cold Storage - BCS: 50 Years, 1946-1996
1996
Oversize Box 1
Monroe, Doug - The Maverick Spirit: Georgia-Pacific at 75
2001
Oversize Box 1
Sudia-Skehan, Shawn - Tappi's First 75 Years: From Distinguished Past to Dynamic Future, 1915-1990
1990
Oversize Box 1
Trillium Corporation - Portraits of Leadership
1999
Oversize Box 1
United States Pulp Producers Association, Inc. - Wood Pulp, A Basic Fiber: The Story of the Origin, Development and Economic Status of a Great American Industry
1955

Series III :   Photographs, negatives, and slidescirca 1892-2000 Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Photographs
1892-2000
Box
Box 11
Employee portraits (A-H)
1990s
Box 12
Employee portraits (J-W)
1990s
Box 13
Color photographs
circa 1940s-2000s
Box 14
Color photographs
circa 1980s-1990s
Box/Folder
15/1-15/2
Color and black & white photographs
circa 1970s-1980s
15/3
Black & white aerial photographs
1969; 1975
15/4
Black & white photographs
circa 1960s
15/5-15/6
Black & white photographs labeled "construction pics"
1972
15/7
Black & white photographs labeled "pics for museum"
circa 1940s-1990s
15/8
Black & white photographs labeled "WWU $"
circa 1990s
Black & white photographs labeled "Old Logging Pics"
circa 1892-1924
Folder
Folder 2
Seattle
1892
Folder 2
Band Saw, union Lumber Company's Mill, Fort Bragg, CA
circa 1900
Folder 2
Leaving Logging Camp in Model T Ford, Pacific Spruce Corporation, Toledo, OR
circa 1924
Folder 2
Donkey Engine & Crew, Silverton, OR; Pond Monkey - posing with Pike Poles, Silver Falls Timber Co., Silverton, OR
undated; circa 1915
Folder 2
3 unidentified photographs
undated
Box
Box 16
Black & white photographs in labeled envelopes
1970s-1980s
Box 17
Black & white photographs in labeled envelopes
1970s-1980s
Box 18
Black & white photographs
circa 1940s-1990s
Box 19
Black & white photographs
circa 1940s-1990s
Box 20
Black & white photographs
circa 1940s-1990s
Box/Folder
20/7
Boiler House photographs (and Historic Building Survey)
circa 1930s, 2008
Folder
Folder 2
Oversize photographs
circa 1970s-1980s
Photograph albums
1944-1970s
Box/Folder
21/1
Alcohol Plant
1944-1945
21/2
Logging pictures
circa 1960s
21/3
Puget Sound Pulp & Timber mill marquee showing "Days without a Time Loss Injury;" and other plant activities
circa 1970s
Slides
1970s-1990s
Box/Folder
22/1
Aerial shots of the mill; Bellingham; Rail and tank car safety training
1960s; 1996 December; 1970s
22/2
Roll pulp tissue; Timber; Visit to G-P Bellingham by CEO Pete Correll
undated; 1970s-1980s; 1998
Box
Box 23
Unlabeled slides
circa 1960s-1990s
Slide Albums
circa 1950s-1990s
Box/Folder
24/1
Alcohol-lignin
circa 1970s
24/2
Chlorine Plant
circa 1970s
24/3
Lagoon
circa 1970s-1980s
24/4
Nursery & Seed Cone Orchard
circa 1980s
24/5-24/6
Pulp mill, etc.
circa 1980s
25/1-25/2
Pulp mill, etc.
circa 1980s
25/3
Timber
circa 1950s; circa 1980s
25/4
Tissue
circa 1990s
25/5
Unlabeled slides
circa 1980s
Negatives
circa 1940s-1990s
Box/Folder
26/1
Acid plant
26/2
Aerial views
26/3
Alcohol Plant
26/4
Bleach plant
26/5
Blow pits
26/6
Board mill
26/7
Boiler house
26/8
Damage & claims
26/9
General mill pics
26/10
Digesters
26/11
Digester heaters
26/12
Displays
26/13
Dredging
26/14
Inter-tidal negatives
26/15
Laboratory & pilot plant
26/16
Machine room
26/17
Mill "A"
26/18
Office
26/19
Oysters
26/20
Personnel
26/21
PGN
26/22
Polio shots
26/23
Reports & talks
26/24
Safety
26/25
Screen Room
26/26
Sewers
26/27
Special equipment
26/28
Squalicum Creek (salmon)
26/29
Utilities
26/30
Wood room & chip screens
26/31
Miscellaneous
27/1
Alcohol plant
27/2
Board mill
27/3
Colby crane
27/4
Hydraulic barking
27/5
Machine room
27/6
Pressure still collapse
27/7
Saw mill
27/8
Mill "A" dismantling
27/9
Miscellaneous
28/1
Aerial photos
28/2
NSCM Project
28/3
Timber ops
28/4-28/8
Unlabeled negatives
29/1
Unlabeled negatives
circa 1960s-1970s
29/2
Glass plate negatives
undated
Box/Folder
29/3
Yeast Literature - reference guide of chemical periodicals
circa 1940s

Series IV :   Audio-visual materialcirca 1960-1990 Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Audio-cassette tapes
undated
Box/Folder
30/1
Edge Learning Institute - "Increasing Human Effectiveness: Managing the Rapids of Change"
undated
VHS tapes
circa 1980s-1990s
Box/Folder
30/2
Allied Film & video - "Kaw Valley Paper"
undated
30/3
Anatone July 13, Pullman May 24 & July 12
undated
30/4
Arbeit Communications Inc. - "Demo Video"
undated
30/5
Bird Treament & Learning Center - "Understanding the Need"
undated
30/6
"Building a Better Community: With the Right Chemistry Anything is Possible"
undated
30/7
DWJ Television
undated
30/8-30/9
Direct Service Industries - "Touching Northwest Lives"
undated
30/10
Forest Health and Fire Danger in Western Forests conference - "Highlights"
circa 1995
30/11
Georgia-Pacific - "Air and Water Quality Resources"
undated
30/12
Georgia-Pacific - "Forests for the Future: Georgia-Pacific's Commitment to Sustainable Forestry"
undated
30/13
Georgia-Pacific - "Step into the World of Papermaking"
undated
31/1
Georgia-Pacific - "Step into the World of Papermaking"
undated
31/2
Georgia-Pacific - "Tree Wishes"
undated
31/3
Giving Tree, The - Non-Profit Program Benefiting Homeless Persons
undated
31/4
Governor Locke/Landfill/G-P
1997 Summer
31/5
Howard Petrella, Black Diamond Video Productions - "Demo Reel"
undated
31/6
Howard Petrella, Black Diamond Video Productions - "Georgia-Pacific Spot #1"
1999 March
31/7
Howard Petrella, Black Diamond Video Productions - "Georgia-Pacific Spot #2"
1999 April
31/8
HRIT - "Update"
1997 September
31/9
Impact Video Productions
undated
31/10
Kositsky, Aaron, Matt Loveday, and Cori Alcorn - "Timber Dreams: The Tar-Heel Migration to the Pacific Northwest"
undated
31/11
KVOS Television - "HG"
1997
31/12
KVOS Television - "Intalco"
undated
31/13-31/14
KVOS Television - "Kaleidoscope Video News Magazine: G-P"
1987
32/1
KVOS Television - "Kaleidoscope III: Bellingham Division"
undated
32/2
KVOS Television Subsidiary
undated
32/3
KVOS Television - "Waterway Story"
1995 Fall
32/4
Message Delivery Workshop - "Chlorine Chemistry Champions"
undated
32/5
Rogers State College/The Electronic University Network
undated
32/6-32/7
"Sharing the Forest"
undated
32/8
"Stream Enhancement"
undated
32/9
Tappi - "Paper: The Video"
undated
32/10
Target Vision - "Multimedia Networks for Employee Communications"
undated
32/11
"Traditional Chinese Hand Papermaking Today"
undated
32/12
Washington Forest Protection Association
undated
32/13
Washington Forest Protection Association - "A Look at Private Forest Management in Washington State Today"
undated
32/14
"Wood"
1986 March
Non-VHS tapes
undated
Box/Folder
33/1
"Old Time Logging"
undated
33/2
"Paper Making Work Film"
undated
16mm film reels
circa 1960s
Box/Folder
33/3
"Boxer Machine: Facial-Tissue-Conv. Drop"
circa 1960s
33/4
"Slitter Adjusting & Rethreading Process: Paperboard Mach."
1966 October 21
33/5
"L.T. Operation: Tissue Mill"
circa 1960s
33/6
"Work Space Layout - Ann Shore of Secretaries Desk"
1963 November
33/7
Unidentified
circa 1960s

Series V :   Charts and maps1938-1952 Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Rolled documents
1938-1952
Rolled Document
Rolled Document 1
Swinomish Slough and Vicinity - showing the barrier dike as completed by U.S. Engineer Department about Dec., 1938. U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and the U.S. Engineer Department
1938 December
Rolled Document 2
Swinomish Slough and Vicinity - taken from government charts made before 1938
undated
Rolled Document 3-4
Guemes Channel flood currents from Anacortes Pulp Mill - general scheme
1941 July
Rolled Document 5
Range 5.5 chart (showing Guemes Channel flood currents)
1940 February 17-18
Rolled Document 6
Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co. - General Flow Diagram
1952
Rolled Document 7
Strait of Juan de Fuca (eastern part) - chart by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
1947
Rolled Document 8
Chart showing the distribution of waste liquor from Anacortes Pulp Mill into Guemes Channel, Fidalgo Bay, and Padilla Bay (at an average of 5/10 completion of ebb tide and an average of 2 hours, 44 minutes after digester is blown
1941
Rolled Document 9
Chart showing the distribution of waste liquor from Anacortes Pulp Mill into Guemes Channel, Fidalgo Bay, and Padilla Bay (at an average of 6/10 completion of flood tide and an average of 2 hours, 8 minutes after digester is blown
1941
Rolled Document 10
Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co. - map showing right of way locations of the proposed logging road from the Hartford Eastern Railway to Ebey Slough
undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Paper industry workers--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources
  • Paper industry--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources
  • Paper mills--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources--Photographs
  • Pulp mills--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources--Photographs
  • Waterfronts--Washington (State)--Bellingham Bay Region--History--Sources--Photographs
  • Wood-pulp industry--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources

Corporate Names

  • Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Bellingham Division--Archives (creator)
  • Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co. (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Bellingham (Wash.)--Economic conditions--History--Sources

Form or Genre Terms

  • Records (Documents)