The Excelsior Boom: How Puyallup Turned Wood into Bedding
A nascent industry in the 1870s aimed to replace imported hair for mattresses with locally milled cottonwood shavings.
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.
The Puget Sound Manufacturing Company was organized in 1877 under the laws of California and the Territory of Washington with a capital stock of $20,000. Located at Puyallup, the works were first established in June 1877 and began operation that September under general manager A. S. Farquharson. The works cover six acres of ground, adjoining the railroad station with a tramway to the warehouse. Initially focused on producing barrel stock for sugar and flour, the company expanded its facilities to include a factory for manufacturing 'Excelsior'—an article second only to hair for mattresses. At the time, all such material came from the East, costing 2 to 5 cents per pound. Using specialized machinery, the mill employs 144 sharpened knives, set like type, to split wood into fine, hair-like shavings. These shavings possess the qualities of elasticity and durability required for bedding. With an increasing demand, the company has already contracted for 500 tons of the product.
“The wood used must be very firm, dry, live and elastic, when these fine hair like shavings will possess nearly all the qualities of hair for mattresses.”
This 1878 report highlights the Pacific Northwest’s early pivot toward value-added timber processing, moving beyond raw logging to finished goods. Today, while the 'Excelsior' industry has faded, the tension between regional resource extraction and the demand for high-end manufacturing remains a cornerstone of the Washington economy.
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