George A. Pope photograph collection

George A. Pope photograph collection, approximately 1880-1919

Overview of the Collection

Collector: Pope, George A., 1864-1942
Title: George A. Pope photograph collection
Dates: approximately 1880-1919 (inclusive)
18801919
Quantity: 21 photographs (1 box)
Collection Number: PH1236
Summary: Photographs of Port Ludlow, Port Gamble, Utsaladey, and the Puget Mill lumber company and logging.
Repository: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions: Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital collections website. Permission of Visual Materials curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more inforamtion.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

George A. Pope was born in San Francisco on April 26, 1864, the son of Puget Mill founder Andrew J. Pope. Puget Mill, also known as Pope & Talbot, Washingtons co-owned by Josiah Keller and William Talbot. After studying at Trinity School, George went on to become a lumberman and shipping magnate. He was also a director of several banks, such as, Bank of California, Wells Fargo, and a couple of others. He was a member of the California Historical Society and had an interest in prints and lithographs. Around the time of his death, he was the chairman of the board of directors of Pope & Talbot. He died in San Francisco on October 16, 1942.

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

Andrew Jackson Pope and Captain William Talbot, both from families who owned sawmills in Maine, founded the Pope & Talbot Company shortly after they arrived in San Francisco in 1849. The pair had come to gold rush San Francisco to sell lumber that had been cut on the East Coast and shipped around Cape Horn. It soon became evident, however, that transportation costs severely cut into the profits of this venture. They thus decided to build a sawmill at Port Gamble. When the mill opened in 1853, it was only the fourth mill on Puget Sound. Pope & Talbot created a subsidiary, the Puget Mill Company, to run the mill. Although its mill was not as large as Captain William Renton’s Port Blakely mill, the Puget Mill Company still grew to be the most profitable lumber firm on the Sound. The company built another mill at Port Gamble in 1856, bought additional mills at Utsalady in 1877 and at Port Ludlow in 1878, and acquired several sailing ships throughout the nineteenth century.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Photographs of Port Ludlow, Port Gamble, Utsaladey, and of the Puget Mill lumber company and logging.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

Although Pope's name is stamped on the backs of the photographs, it is unlikely that he is the photographer because there is no evidence that he had any photography experience.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Status of creator's copyrights is unknown; restrictions may exist on copying, quotation, or publication. Users are responsible for researching copyright status before use.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donor: C.D. Raymond, May 21 1957.

Processing Note

Processed by Kaylynn Guerra, January 2019.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Port Ludlow, WashingtonReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Town
Box/Folder	item
1/1	1	The Thorndyke residence with men on the porch Written on verso: First house built in Port Ludlow by H.K. Thorndike about 1854 or 1855.	1884?
1/1	2	The front of Admiralty Hall	Between 1888 and 1889
1/1	3	Admiralty Hall from the back	1889?
1/1	4	A row of houses	1889?
1/1	5	View of lumber mill and houses	1884?
		Puget Mill
Box/Folder	item
1/2	6	Log pond and lumber mill with ships docked at the mill	1889?
1/2	7a	View of the lumber mill and ship from the water	1889?
1/2	7b	Copy of image 7a Copy was made by Gabriel Moulin Studios in San Fransisco	1889?
1/2	8	Side view of the lumber mill with some logs scattered in the water	1889?
1/2	9	Stacks of wood planks and a close up of the side of the lumber mill	1889?
1/2	10	Stacks of wood planks with the lumber mill behind them	1889?
1/2	11	Boat, SS Tyee, being built near the lumber mill	1884?
1/2	12	Row of houses (probably for the workers) on stilts near the lumber mill	1889?
1/2	13	Houses or buildings near the lumber mill with stacks of wood planks nearby	1889?
		Transporting Logs
Box/Folder	item
1/3	14	An oil tank with a woman standing near it	1889?
1/3	15	A train pulling logs in the forest	1889?
1/3	16	Three men standing on the logs in the forest being pulled by a train	1889?
1/3	17	Ox team in forest	1889?

Port Gamble and UtsaladyReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/4	18	Interior of a general store, Port Gamble, Washington	1884?
1/4	19	A field and houses with the lumber mill or sawmill in the distance, Utsalady, Washington	1884?
1/4	20	Lumber mill with elevated railroad tracks and piles of wood planks, Utsalady, Washington	1884?

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

City and town life--Washington (State)--Port Ludlow--19th century
Planing-mills--Washington (State)--Camano Island--Photographs
Planing-mills--Washington (State)--Port Gamble--Photographs
Planing-mills--Washington (State)--Port Ludlow--Photographs
Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Corporate Names

Pope & Talbots
Puget Mill Company

Geographical Names

Port Gamble (Wash.)--Photographs
Port Ludlow (Wash.)--Photographs
Utsalady (Wash.)--Photographs

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