Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records, George W. Loggie Papers, 1886-1978
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Whatcom Falls Mill Company; ; Loggie, George W.
- Title
- Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records, George W. Loggie Papers
- Dates
- 1886-1978 (inclusive)18861978
1895-1940 (bulk)18951940 - Quantity
- 9 linear ft.
- Collection Number
- XOE_CPNWS0009wfallsmill (collection)
- Summary
- The collection contains administrative, financial and operational records, maps and drawings and photographs documenting the business interests of the Whatcom Falls Mill company and also information relating to other regional lumber mills. Personal papers and photographs further document the business and other interests of the George W. Loggie family.
- 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.
- Sponsor
- Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding the finding aid was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Whatcom Falls Mill Company was located on Bellingham Bay, in the northwestern corner of Washington State. The mill, located on Whatcom Creek in Bellingham, was originally the Washington Colony Mill, positioned on a site established by Henry Roeder and J.E. Peabody in 1853. In 1895, George W. Loggie, along with his brother James A. Loggie, rented the Washington Colony Mill, creating the Whatcom Falls Mill Company.
George W. Loggie and Samuel J. Knight filed papers for incorporation of Whatcom Falls Mill Company 28 October 1895. The mill specialized in Western Red Cedar and manufactured a variety of products including bevel siding, sash and doors, and lumber. A new plant, built in 1903 at the bottom of “G” Street, eventually produced only red cedar lumber and shingles. The company shipped its product all over the world by rail and water.
Loggie formed a partnership with Pat McCoy of Seattle, who had large timber holdings in the Kulshan district. The McCoy-Loggie Timber Company, formed in 1910, had McCoy as its President with Loggie as Secretary and Treasurer. The McCoy-Loggie Timber Company supplied the Whatcom Falls Mill with lumber until the Timber Company dissolved in 1926.
The management of the mill was largely a family affair. G.W. Loggie was President until his death in 1922. Upon his death, Loggie’s brother, James, assumed the roll until 1933. D.H. Lowery, son-in-law of George, became President in 1933, serving until the company filed dissolution papers on June 22, 1940.
George W. Loggie was born 22 June 1851 near Loggieville, New Brunswick, Canada. In 1879, he came out west and began an extensive career in the logging business, working at mills along the Puget Sound as well as in Oregon. Oregon mills were located in cities such as Portland and Coos Bay, where he spent time as general manager for the large Southern Oregon Company. Washington mills include the Puget Sound Mill Company at Utsaladdy and Port Gamble. Loggie eventually became superintendent of the Utsaladdy plant. He also worked in Seattle, and established mills in Snohomish and Port Angeles in 1893.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records and George W. Loggie Papers span the years 1886 to 1978, with the bulk of the material dated 1895-1940. The collection primarily documents the story of Whatcom Falls Mill Company. The remaining papers focus on Loggie's personal life. Little is known as to how the collection arrived at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies; however, it is clearly a compilation of records from many facets of Loggie’s life. Few of the personal papers are truly family oriented, and focus instead, on Loggie’s other business interests prior to the creation of Whatcom Falls Mill Company.
The first series of papers documents the business activities of Whatcom Falls Mill Company from its incorporation in 1895 to its dissolution in 1940. Included are administrative and financial records, correspondence, operations information, maps and drawings, and various advertising materials, including a business envelope with a picture of the original mill, and business cards printed on cedar. Included in this series are several records relating to the McCoy-Loggie Timber Company. While not a subsidiary company, the Timber Company supplied lumber to the mill, and records from both companies appear to have been kept together. Enriching The Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records are photographs of Whatcom Falls Mill, including a photo of a drawing of the original mill, two Brubaker aerial surveys, and one Sandison aerial survey.
Separate from both the Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records and the George W. Loggie Papers is information included on other regional lumber mills. This information, collected after Loggie's death in 1922, bears no immediate connections to Whatcom Falls Mill. It was possibly collected in order to assess the competition of other regional mills. Included in this series is information on the Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Mill, as well as Wood & English Limited.
The remainder of the collection focuses on personal materials of the Loggie family, and in particular, the business activities of George W. Loggie prior to his work with Whatcom Falls Mill Company. Included is early correspondence of George W. Loggie, primarily with regard to his previous mill experience in Oregon; papers, a ledger, and booklets that document G.W. Loggie’s interest in Trotting Horses; copies of the certificate of Registry of the Schooner Vigilant; a Family Expense Ledger (dated after G.W. Loggie’s death); and family photos. Also included are photographs of other mills, as well as those depicting various aspects of logging and milling operations. Some of these photos date to the 1880s and 1890s. Identified mills include Bloedel-Donovan, as well as other mills on Bellingham Bay, the Olympic Peninsula, and mills near the Cascade Mountains. The Family Expense Ledger, page 151, contains genealogical material of interest regarding the Lowery family.
The following items are of special note: Materials regarding the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union and Whatcom Falls Mill Company, including correspondence and newspaper clippings dealing with the workers' strike in 1937; a 1914 Kroll Atlas section map showing McCoy land as well as other lumber and mill company property; an 1887 Map Guide to the City of Seattle, Washington Territory surveyed by Whitworth and Thomson which was probably a real estate map; and a December 10, 1895 copy of the newspaper Daily Reveille.
The artifacts in this collection include a wallet owned by George W. Loggie, and Volume VI of the 14-volume set of Hough’s American Woods is also part of this collection. Romeyn Beck Hough wrote and published the set between 1888 and 1928. Each volume consists of twenty-five species of trees specific to a particular part of the United States. Volume VI represents trees of the Pacific Slope. Actual wood samples of each tree are included; cut in thin sections to show the various planes of the wood (transverse, radial, and tangential sections).
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records and George W. Loggie Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The records from the Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records and George W. Loggie Papers are organized in accordance with the following series and sub-series arrangement:
- Series I: Whatcom Falls Mill Co. Records, 1895-1941
- Sub-series 1: Administrative Records, 1895-1941
- Sub-series 2: Financial Records, 1895-1939
- Sub-series 3: Operations, 1889-1937
- Sub-series 4: Maps and Drawings, 1914-1934
- Sub-series 5: Photographs, Undated; circa 1890-1934
- Series II: Regional Mill Information, 1919-1939
- Series III: G.W. Loggie Papers, 1880s-1978
- Sub-series 1: Personal Papers, 1884-1978
- Sub-series 2: Photographs, circa 1880-1950s
- Series IV: Artifacts, 1885/undated
Custodial History
The exact provenance of these records is unknown.
Processing Note
Tamma Farra originally processed the collection for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in March 1999. In August 2003, Amber Raney re-engineered the collection and finding aid.
Processing Note
About Harmful Language and ContentTo 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
Related Materials
The Loggie Photograph Collection is housed at the Photo Archives at the Whatcom Museum of History & Art, Bellingham, WA.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Series I: Whatcom Falls Mill Company Records , 1895-1941Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Sub-series
1
:
Administrative
Records
|
1895-1941 | |
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | Advertising |
1896-1932 |
1/2 | Articles of Incorporation & By-Laws |
1895 (By-Laws amended in 1937) |
1/3 | Company History |
1937 |
Correspondence
|
||
Box/Folder | ||
1/4 | Incoming |
1895-1941 |
1/5 | Outgoing |
1933-1939 |
Box/Folder | ||
1/6 | Daily Reports |
October 1, 1938 – March 27, 1939 |
1/7 | Materials re. Dissolution of Company |
1940-1941 |
1/8 | Materials re. Relations between Whatcom Falls Mill and
Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union |
1936-1938 |
1/9 | Minutes of special and annual meetings |
1910-1939 |
Volume | ||
1 | Ledger of minutes of special and annual
meetings |
1939-1940 |
Box/Folder | ||
1/10 | Minutes of special and annual meetings from
organization to dissolution of the McCoy-Loggie Timber Co. |
November 30, 1910 – April 20, 1926 |
Sub-series
2
:
Financial
Records
|
1895-1939 | |
Box/Folder | ||
2/1 | Financial Reports |
1902-1926 |
2/2 | Financial Reports |
1929-1931 |
2/3 | Financial Reports |
1932-1939 |
2/4 | Payroll information |
1918-1939 |
2/5 | Report of Audit – Whatcom Falls Mill and McCoy-Loggie
Timber Co. |
1920 December 31 |
2/6 | Reports of Audits – Whatcom Falls Mill |
1931-1937 |
2/7 | Stock Certificates: Whatcom Falls Mill, McCoy-Loggie
Timber Co., Whatcom County Agriculture, and Whatcom County Fair Association
|
1895-1924 |
Sub-series 3:
Operations
|
1889-1937 | |
Box/Folder | ||
2/8 | Manufacturing Statement |
1912 |
2/8 | Operations Reference cards |
1928-1937 |
2/9 | Reference Materials: Schedule of Prices, Standard
Grading and Dressing Rules for West Coast Lumber, Valuations of Lumber
Manufacturing Properties |
1889-1934 |
2/10 | West Coast Price List of Lumber |
1921 |
Sub-series
4
:
Maps and
Drawings
|
1914-1934 | |
OversizeFolder | ||
1 | Blueprint of Proposed New Fire Mains for Whatcom Falls
Mill |
1934 |
Box/Folder | ||
3/1 | Map: Kroll’s Atlas of Whatcom Co., T.38 N R.
5E |
1914 |
3/2 | Survey of Proposed Layout of Mains and Hydrants
|
1928 |
Sub-series
5
:
Photographs
|
circa 1890-1934 | |
Box/Folder | ||
3/3 | Brubaker Aerial Survey of Whatcom Falls Mill
|
undated |
OversizeFolder | ||
2 | McCoy-Loggie Timber Company train engine
(framed) |
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
3/4 | Sandison Aerial Survey of Whatcom Falls
Mill |
undated |
3/5 | Whatcom Falls Mill Photographs |
1890s-1934 |
Series II: Regional Mill Information, 1919-1939Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
4/1 | Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Mill |
1919-1933 |
4/2 | Wood and English Limited, Vancouver, B.C. |
1934-1939 |
Series III: G.W. Loggie Papers, 1880s-1978Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Sub-series
1
:
Personal Papers
|
1884-1978 | |
Box/Folder | ||
4/3 | Copies of Certificate of Registry for Schooner
Vigilant
|
1920 |
Volume | ||
2 | Family Expense Ledger |
1938-1978 |
OversizeFolder | ||
3 | Guide Map of the City of Seattle, Washington
Territory, Whitworth and Thompson – Surveyors |
1887 |
Box/Folder | ||
4/4 | Ledger of Horses purchased by G.W. Loggie
|
1884-1891 |
4/5 | Materials re. Interest and investments in Trotting
Horses |
1890-1895 |
4/6 | Materials re. Employment with Southern Oregon Co.,
Empire Mill |
1886-1890 |
4/7 | Newspaper, Daily
Reveille
|
December 10, 1895 |
4/8 | Obituary of G.W. Loggie |
March 25, 1922 |
4/9 | Personal Correspondence (Incoming) |
1897-1907 |
Sub-series
2
:
Photographs
|
circa 1880-1950s | |
Box/Folder | ||
4/10 | Loggie Family Photos, USS Constitution, Mt. Baker
|
circa 1900-1934 |
4/11 | Logging operations in Washington State (taken from a
scrapbook) |
circa 1910-1920s |
4/12 | Mills outside of Washington State |
circa 1880s-1890s |
4/13 | Washington State Mills |
circa 1880s-1950s |
5/1 | Coos Bay, Oregon |
circa 1890s |
5/2 | Coos Bay, Oregon, Old Mill |
circa 1890s |
5/3 | Goodyear Logging Co., Clallam Bay,
Washington |
circa 1890s-1900s |
5/4 | Lumber Mill, Coos Bay, Oregon – Coos Bay Photo and
Crayon Co. |
undated |
5/5 | Old Mill |
1890s |
5/6 | USS Constitution in Bellingham Bay |
1933 |
Series IV: Artifacts, 1885, undatedReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
5/7 | Hough’s American Woods Volume VI |
1885 |
5/8 | Wallet belonging to G.W. Loggie |
undated |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Lumber trade--Washington (State) -- Bellingham.
Personal Names
- Knight, Samuel J. (creator)
- Loggie, George W. (creator)
Corporate Names
- Whatcom Falls Mill Company (creator)