The Pioneer Spirit of Seattle’s Lumber Boom
While major financiers discussed global markets, a group of young, ambitious lumbermen were busy building a new mill to feed Seattle's rapid expansion.
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 lumber market continues to be active and firm, with the local demand remaining remarkably good. In a testament to this growth, a new mill has been started near the city by a syndicate of six young lumbermen. The mill is capable of cutting 30,000 feet per day. Although the building proper is not yet enclosed, the mill has been running full time for several days. This additional facility will add about 125,000 feet per week to Seattle's total output. The total inside cut for the past week is figured by lumbermen at 1,700,000 feet, of which about one-third was dressed. There is some talk in lumber circles about the establishment of a number of new mills in the vicinity of Seattle by Eastern capitalists, but nothing definite is known.
“Although the building proper is not yet enclosed, the mill has been running full time for several days.”
This 1889 report captures the rapid industrial scaling of a young Seattle, mirroring the modern-day tension between local entrepreneurs and the arrival of 'Eastern capitalists' (now global tech firms) that continues to reshape the city's physical and economic footprint.
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