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Owen L. Hall Lumber Industry photograph collection, circa 1880s-1974

Overview of the Collection

Collector
Hall, Owen L., 1908-1981
Title
Owen L. Hall Lumber Industry photograph collection
Dates
circa 1880s-1974 (inclusive)
circa 1880s-1910s (bulk)
Quantity
1 box plus oversize materials, (121 photographs, 27 postcards, 2 albums and 12 lantern slides)
Collection Number
1981.7351 (collection)
Summary
Photographs of the lumber industry in Washington State, largely circa 1880-1910, including images of crews, mills, equipment and operations.
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.

Languages
English.
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Biographical Note

Born in Renton, Washington, Owen L. Hall was a lifelong resident of Seattle, living in the University District for much of his adult life. Hall worked in the lumber industry as a logger in Washington State for several years in the late 1930s-early 1940s, and developed a lasting interest in forestry. Over the years, Hall collected artifacts and images related to the lumber industry: saws, axes and other small tools, and photographs and postcards of lumber crews, sawmills, equipment, and other subjects related to lumber and logging.

Owen Hall died in 1981.

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Content Description

The collection is comprised largely of photographs of the early lumber industry in Washington State, circa 1880-1910. Several specific sawmills and mill crews are depicted, such as those at the Allen Shingle Company, Clear Lake Shingle Company, and the King Mill. Images of mill operations depict various pieces of machinery, from steam donkey engines and steam shovels, to setworks and saws operating inside mill buildings. Several images depict various modes of hauling lumber, from horse or oxen teams to flatbed railcars and trucks. One series consists of 11 photographs of logging in the early 1900s, by the Seattle photography studio of Webster & Stevens. Other images depict the Washington Saw Company float in the 1912 Golden Potlatch parade in Seattle, and the archway cut into the "bicycle tree" near Snohomish.The collection also includes several photographs of later mill operations and equipment, such as the Weyerhauser Timber Company pulp mill in Longview, Washington (1931) and equipment at the Walton Lumber Company (1955). Lantern slides also depict logging operations as well as mountain scenes.

The collection also includes two photograph albums, one containing images of mills and mill operations in Washington State and California, and the other depicting the six "gyppo" mills-- small, independent and often portable operations--in Washington State in 1955.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in MOHAI's online collections.

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

Owen L. Hall Lumber Industry Photograph Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 4 series:

  • Photographs
  • Postcards
  • Albums
  • Lantern slides

Location of Collection

2b.1.10 (box 1)

Location of Collection

1a.3.6-7(oversize photos)

Location of Collection

VII.b.3 (panorama)

Location of Collection

15b.2.drawer8 (lantern slides)

Acquisition Information

Gift of Amelia Trowbridge, Owen Hall's daughter, December 14, 1981. Ms. Trowbridge donated additional materials (5 photographs and one postcard) in 2008.

Processing Note

Numbering of the photographs begins with number 61 because numbers 1-60 were assigned to collection artifacts during accessioning.

12 lantern slides and 8 photographs from the collection were found added to the inventory in 2010.

Separated Materials

These materials are part of a donation that also included a number of artifacts. These artifacts are cataloged and stored separately by MOHAI's Collections Department. A complete inventory of the artifacts is also available in the Library.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Climax locomotives
  • Donkey engines
  • Horse teams--Washington (State)
  • Logs
  • Lumber industry--Washington (State)
  • Lumberyards--Washington (State)
  • Ox teams--Washington (State)
  • Railroad cars--Washington (State)
  • Sawmill workers--Washington (State)
  • Sawmills--Washington (State)
  • Skid roads--Washington (State)

Corporate Names

  • Webster & Stevens (photographer)

Geographical Names

  • Seattle, Wash.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photograph albums
  • Photographic postcards
  • Photographic prints

Finding aid prepared by Jody Hendrickson
2008

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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