Aberdeen Pitched as Future Hub for Tannin Extract
A San Francisco representative scouts the Grays Harbor basin, eyeing the abundance of bark and labor as the keys to a new industrial empire.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
L. Van Lack, representing a San Francisco company with tannin extract works at Clallam Bay, was in Aberdeen Saturday to scout the location for a potential new manufacturing plant. In describing the operations at Clallam Bay, Van Lack noted they employ forty men in the factory day and night, with over 150 men in the woods harvesting bark. The company pays $5 to $6 per cord for bark harvested on their own land. Van Lack emphasized that Aberdeen offers distinct advantages over their previous sites, citing accessible wharfage and an abundance of experienced labor. He noted that the Grays Harbor region's numerous steamers provide the cheapest transportation mode available. Van Lack stated, 'The object of my visit is to ascertain what can be done here and render a report. If the people of Aberdeen do the fair thing, there is little doubt that the beginning of next season will find our plant established here.' He added that there is no more suitable place for such an enterprise on the Pacific Coast. H. R. Bellamy of Montesano accompanied him, hinting at separate plans for coal bunkers to handle product from lands near Centralia, suggesting that Aberdeen is rapidly becoming the primary city of Grays Harbor.
“If the people of Aberdeen will do the fair thing, there is little doubt that the beginning of next season will find our plant established here.”
This 1891 report captures the classic 'booster' moment of early Aberdeen, where industrial speculators were courted by city elites with promises of cheap labor and natural resources. Today's efforts to lure industry or tech to Grays Harbor echo these same arguments about logistical superiority and untapped potential, though the environmental and labor standards have shifted drastically since the era of bark-harvesting.
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