Hewing the Great Fir: A Seattle Ship's New Mast
A local carpenter is hand-crafting a massive 84-foot fir mast for a visiting ship, showcasing the immense timber resources of early Seattle.
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.
K. Ulin, the carpenter, is hewing out near the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Commercial Street a mizzen mast for the ship George F. Manson, now on her way to this port. The mast is being cut of a magnificent fir log, eighty-four feet long and as straight as a string. Several days will be consumed in the construction of the mast.
“The mast is being cut of a magnificent fir log, eighty-four feet long and as straight as a string.”
This brief snippet captures the era when Seattle’s massive old-growth forests directly fueled the global shipping economy. Today, while the logging industry has transformed into a tech-driven port and commercial hub, the legacy of that timber-based identity remains etched into the city's street names and industrial history at the waterfront.
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