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Sawmill at Montesano, Schafer Brothers Logging Company, n.d.
Sawmill at Montesano, Schafer Brothers Logging Company, n.d.
TitleSawmill at Montesano, Schafer Brothers Logging Company, n.d.
PhotographerKinsey, Clark
Daten.d.
NotesCaption on image: Shafer Lmbr. Co., Montesano. C. Kinsey Photo. No. 4

PH Coll 516.3839
Contextual NotesSchafer Brothers Logging Company got its start in 1893 when brothers Peter, Albert and Hubert Schafer began logging on the family homestead 6 miles upstream from the mouth of the Satsop. They logged with oxen and horses for 20 years. The company's first donkey engine was purchased from Washington Iron Works. Hubert went to work at the factory to learn how donkey engines were made and also to have all of his wages, except for living expenses, applied toward the cost of that first donkey engine. In 1913, they bought a 45-ton Heisler locomotive and laid tracks into the woods from Brady to begin their railroad logging operation. A shingle mill was purchased in Montesano in 1919, the first of many manufacturing plants the company would own throughout Grays Harbor County. At the peak of operation, the Schafers were running one of the largest logging, milling and shipping concerns in the lumber industry of the Pacific Northwest. Their properties and equipment at that time, not counting ships and tugs, included five sawmills in operation, served by six camps sending logs over 100 miles of rail. This required 18 locomotives, both geared and mainline types, and a total of 70 donkeys and 325 logging cars. To operate all of this equipment called for approximately 3000 employees. Simpson Timber Company purchased Schafer Brothers Logging Company in 1955.

Montesano, the county seat of Grays Harbor County, is eight miles east of Aberdeen on the Chehalis River near the mouth of Wynooche River in central Grays Harbor County. In 1862, the name Mount Zion was suggested by the wife of the first settler, J. L. Scammon. Another pioneer, Samuel James, suggested the present name from the Spanish monte or mountain, and sano or health. Local authorities thought Sam's name had more meaning.

Subjects (LCTGM)Railroad tracks--Washington (State)--Montesano
Lumber--Washington (State)--Montesano
Utility poles--Washington (State)--Montesano
Lumber industry--Washington (State)--Montesano
Schafer Brothers Logging Company--Facilities--Washington (State)--Montesano
Subjects (LCSH)Sawmills--Washington (State)--Montesano
Location DepictedUnited States--Washington (State)--Grays Harbor County--Montesano
Digital CollectionClark Kinsey Photographs
Order NumberCKK01199
Ordering InformationTo order a reproduction, inquire about permissions, or for information about prices see: http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcollections/services/reproduction-info Please cite the Order Number when ordering.
Negative NumberC. Kinsey 3839
RepositoryUniversity of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division.
Repository CollectionClark Kinsey Photograph Collection. PH Coll 516
Object TypePhotograph
Physical DescriptionSilver gelatin, b/w ; 11 x 14 in.
Digital Reproduction InformationScanned from a photographic print using a Microtek Scanmaker 9600XL or 9800XL at 100 ppi in grayscale. Resized using Adobe Photoshop 7.0 or 8.0 so that the long dimension was either 768 pixels horizontal or 600 pixels vertical, then saved in JPEG format at quality rating 3. 2004
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