The City of Hoquiam is synonymous with the word wood and no one can contest that truth. It is one of the most well studied and well documented logging towns that ever existed and even until today the heritage and history of this town and its proud people is etched in wood, hard wood.
Even the name of the camp was about the business of wood and surprisingly the term Hoquiam came from people who came before the woodsmen, the Native Americans described how they saw the river hundreds if not thousands of years into their generations "Hungry for wood" and as they so eloquently put it, the arrival of these white men signaled that the river and the just newly established settlement would be infinitely hungrier than ever before.
It was just a matter of time for other people who wanted to cash in on the abundance of commercially viable forest and in just a few years a large number of saw mills were busily processing wood into their hungry jaws, making the area a good employment center and business opportunity for those who wanted to provide goods and services to the lumber men and their families who continually poured in to work in the mills and in the logging camps. Some men went in with big capital like Robert and Joseph Lytle who set up the Lumber and Shingle Company in 1902. By 1906 the Lytle brothers ran of the world's largest cedar shingle manufacturing company. A year later the lumber requirements of the then Northern Pacific Railroad Company brought forth the establishment of the Grays Harbor Lumber Company who made it its business to have a steady supply of lumber for its railroad projects.
As rich and powerful were the Lytle brothers and the other companies who were subsidiaries of even bigger companies in other industries, none can match the tenacity and unrelenting growth of Alex Polson and his brothers. In just a few years, the Polson's controlled if not owned much of the prime real estate and timber interest in and around Grays Harbor area, with opulent mansions and thousands of employees to prove that they were the biggest.
In 1891, the Lytle brothers Joseph and Robert joined their interest with the Polson Brothers Logging Company, which 12 years later after joining again with another big player the Merill and Ring Corporation was established as the Polson Logging Company, a true industrial giant of that era.
The lumber barons had it all, but the richness of the lands of Grays Harbor was so vast that there was room for everybody to try and make a profit. More than 300 other small logging and milling operations dotted the Grays harbor landscape and even hundreds more of different trade and service type concerns were establish to support the thousands of men who needed anything and everything under the sun.
Logging gave birth, sustained and established the town. The people because of the usual influx of visitors and outsiders being employed by the lumber industry became a very accommodating and affable bunch. Most of the present residents can trace their roots from entrepreneurs, mill and logging workers who were employed by the many logging businesses. Present life was dictated by the lumber business and how people interacted with each other in the everyday goings on in the lumber camps and town. The rich history and proud heritage is sourced from these courageous and tenacious men and women who were led by the lumber barons of yesteryear. It is this same tenacity and courage that drives present day Hoquiam to face its future in the years ahead.
Even the name of the camp was about the business of wood and surprisingly the term Hoquiam came from people who came before the woodsmen, the Native Americans described how they saw the river hundreds if not thousands of years into their generations "Hungry for wood" and as they so eloquently put it, the arrival of these white men signaled that the river and the just newly established settlement would be infinitely hungrier than ever before.
It was just a matter of time for other people who wanted to cash in on the abundance of commercially viable forest and in just a few years a large number of saw mills were busily processing wood into their hungry jaws, making the area a good employment center and business opportunity for those who wanted to provide goods and services to the lumber men and their families who continually poured in to work in the mills and in the logging camps. Some men went in with big capital like Robert and Joseph Lytle who set up the Lumber and Shingle Company in 1902. By 1906 the Lytle brothers ran of the world's largest cedar shingle manufacturing company. A year later the lumber requirements of the then Northern Pacific Railroad Company brought forth the establishment of the Grays Harbor Lumber Company who made it its business to have a steady supply of lumber for its railroad projects.
As rich and powerful were the Lytle brothers and the other companies who were subsidiaries of even bigger companies in other industries, none can match the tenacity and unrelenting growth of Alex Polson and his brothers. In just a few years, the Polson's controlled if not owned much of the prime real estate and timber interest in and around Grays Harbor area, with opulent mansions and thousands of employees to prove that they were the biggest.
In 1891, the Lytle brothers Joseph and Robert joined their interest with the Polson Brothers Logging Company, which 12 years later after joining again with another big player the Merill and Ring Corporation was established as the Polson Logging Company, a true industrial giant of that era.
The lumber barons had it all, but the richness of the lands of Grays Harbor was so vast that there was room for everybody to try and make a profit. More than 300 other small logging and milling operations dotted the Grays harbor landscape and even hundreds more of different trade and service type concerns were establish to support the thousands of men who needed anything and everything under the sun.
Logging gave birth, sustained and established the town. The people because of the usual influx of visitors and outsiders being employed by the lumber industry became a very accommodating and affable bunch. Most of the present residents can trace their roots from entrepreneurs, mill and logging workers who were employed by the many logging businesses. Present life was dictated by the lumber business and how people interacted with each other in the everyday goings on in the lumber camps and town. The rich history and proud heritage is sourced from these courageous and tenacious men and women who were led by the lumber barons of yesteryear. It is this same tenacity and courage that drives present day Hoquiam to face its future in the years ahead.
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