The Sound’s Timber Boom
After three years of stagnation, Puget Sound mills are roaring back to life with global orders and a massive influx of shipping.
All the lumber mills on Puget Sound are working to their utmost capacity and orders for lumber are pouring in from different parts of the world every day. The general tone in this line is better than it has been for the past three years, and a prosperous season is looked for during the spring and summer months. Nearly all the sea-going vessels on the coast are being placed in condition for this trade, and before another month passes the harbors of a number of the mills on the Sound will be full of ships. At the Port Blakeley mill, the largest in the world, there are loaded and loading a dozen vessels for ports as far away as Liverpool, Australia, and South America. Besides these, a number of vessels are due at Port Gamble, Tacoma, and Ballard.
“The general tone in this line is better than it has been for the past three years, and a prosperous season is looked for.”
This 1895 report captures the cyclical nature of Seattle’s resource-based economy, which has shifted from timber and mills to tech and global logistics. The reliance on international trade, particularly with the Orient mentioned in the paper, remains a constant thread in the region's economic identity.
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