Port Blakely Mill Company
Named in 14 stories. Back to all names
- Nov 11, 1876A $3 Million Sawmill Goes Corporate on Puget SoundPort Blakely’s mill owners incorporated in California, putting a $3 million lumber empire under a manager who would run it from the Washington Territory shore.Bainbridge Island, WA
- Oct 18, 1883A Journey to the Timber Powerhouse of Port BlakelyAn eye-witness account of the massive industrial machinery and global trade routes operating just nine miles from Seattle in 1883.Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, WA
- Apr 28, 1885The Skookum Bay Cattle WarA quiet surveying expedition in the Washington timberlands turns into a tense standoff over local property rights.Shelton, WA
- May 7, 1885The Rails of Mason County: An Industry Giant Plans a Deep-Woods ExpansionA representative of the Port Blakely Mill Company confirms plans to lay a standard-gauge steel railroad into the heart of Washington's timber country, setting the stage for industrial transformation.Shelton, WA
- Aug 1, 1885The Steam Tug That Sailed Like ClockworkAfter a major refit to repair hurricane damage, the sturdy steam tug 'Sehome' proves its mettle on a high-speed run between Seattle and Port Blakely.Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island
- Sep 23, 1885Knights of Labor Force Displacement of Chinese WorkersThe Port Blakely Mill Company agrees to terminate its Chinese workforce following organized pressure from local labor groups.Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island
- Nov 24, 1886The Shipyard Walkout at the Port Blakely MillWhen an employer mandated a ten-hour workday, laborers staged a strike that pitted the mill's authority against the collective will of the workers.Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island
- Nov 25, 1886The Eight-Hour Day Battle at the Port Madison MillAfter the mill workers in Port Madison held a meeting to demand the eight-hour day, they successfully pressured management into alignment with the major mills in Tacoma and Seattle.Port Madison, Bainbridge Island, WA
- May 20, 1887The Tragedy of the North Star: A Lost Crew and a Community’s GriefFifty-two days after departing for San Diego with a heavy timber load, the brig North Star is officially presumed lost, leaving a community to reckon with the perils of the Pacific and the cost of the lumber boom.Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island
- Jan 1, 1889From Embers to Empire: The Resilience of the Port Blakely MillWhen fire destroyed the massive Port Blakely sawmill in 1888, the company didn't just rebuild—they turned it into the largest, most productive operation on Puget Sound.Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, WA
- Aug 27, 1894A Mill Owner's Warning: Free Trade and the Fight for Seattle's Lumber FuturePort Blakely's C. P. Holmes saw tariff-free lumber helping British Columbia, doubted the China-Japan war would rescue trade, and still believed Seattle's natural harbor would win.Bainbridge Island, WA
- Sep 20, 1894A Wharf Foreman Tied an Iron Bar to His Neck and Stepped Into the BayJames Mobley, foreman for the Port Blakely Mill Company, left his hat on the wharf as the only clue — a private collapse in a company mill town.Bainbridge Island, WA
- Jan 1, 1895The Forest Empire That Built WashingtonA sweeping 1900 survey of the state's lumber industry counted billions of feet of standing timber, 250 sawmills, and $7 million a year in wages—proof that the trees, not the cities, came first.Seattle, WA
- Jun 19, 1895Puget Sound Lumber Sails for South AfricaA new steamship and clipper line carries Northwest timber to Delagoa Bay and the gold fields of Johannesburg.Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, WA