Wednesday, October 14, 2009

CHAPTER 1

Early Coal Exploration and Development



“Coal, coal, was the cry of pioneers of Puget Sound from the earliest advent of white men and the topic of never-ending discussion in pioneer newspapers. Search for it led hardy, venturesome prospectors into the forests and up the mountain streams, and some of the best farming land was discovered by them.” (Bagley 1929, 1:280)

It is hard to say when euroamerican explorers and settlers first knew of the existence of coal in what is now Washington State. In 1833, during his time with the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Nisqually, Dr. Tolmie found coal along the Cowlitz River. Native Americans also frequently brought Dr. Tolmie coal they had found in the foothills around Mt. Rainier. Efforts to actually mine coal can be dated to 1848, when a lignite bed was worked along the banks of the Cowlitz. As towns were founded and grew along Puget Sound in the 1850s and more of the back country was explored, reports of coal discoveries began cropping up from all around the region.

In the 1850s, coal was discovered at Bellingham, and Renton. In the 1860s the coal fields of Issaquah, Coal Creek and Newcastle were discovered and opened, and the Carbon River deposits were located. These coal deposits and others were developed and began shipping coal in the 1860s and 1870s.

In 1880, the Black Diamond Company of California took an interest in King County coal and sent Victor E. Tull to explore the area and find new, high-quality coal deposits. In July, Tull located the coal beds of the Black Diamond, Franklin, and Ravensdale field. The mines were soon developed and began shipping coal in the early 1880s. Other beds were located and opened and coal mining became a leading industry in late-nineteenth century southeast King County.


Development of Western Washington Railroads



It is no accident that it took nearly twenty years from the time of the first major discoveries of coal in the 1850s until the industry really developed in the 1870s. The reason for this was any developer faced major difficulties in transportation. Product from many of the early mines were transported by wagon over early roads and barges across Lake Washington or along the areas rivers. Many times coal was loaded and reloaded as it went from wagon, to barge, and back to wagon on its way to port. There was one solution to this problem – railroads.

From the days of Seattle's founding and early growth in the 1850s, railroads were on its mind. In 1854, Governor Stevens came to Seattle during his efforts exploring routes for a northern transcontinental railroad and determining possible locations for a western terminus. After his visit Reverend Blaine wrote, “This place [Seattle], in view of the natural and easy route hither and of our excellent and commodious harbor, said to be the best on the Sound, will probably be the place” (as quoted in Bagley 1916, 1:34). Speculation and excitement over the location of a western terminus grew in Seattle and the rest of the Puget Sound country after the Northern Pacific received a charter in 1864 to build a line from a point on Lake Superior to a point on Puget Sound.

But, in 1870, the citizens of the Puget Sound country were disappointed when Congress amended the railroad's charter giving the Northern Pacific permission to run its main line down the Columbia River while building only a branch line to Puget Sound. This did not end the speculation on the location of the Puget Sound terminus and every major community competed fiercely to gain the company's favor. A committee of Northern Pacific Directors visiting the Puget Sound cities in 1872 were greeted by bids of cash, bonds, town lots, acreage, and the use of water front lands from each of the competing cities.

When the committee returned east, the citizens of Seattle were confident they had won the fight. Olympia, who seemed to be Seattle's strongest opponent, had been eliminated, and only two more remained, Mukilteo and Tacoma. But Tacoma had something that Seattle did not – a wealth of previously unclaimed land surrounding Commencement Bay that the railroad could control and profit from. On July 14, 1873, Arthur A. Denny, one of the founders and a leading citizen and businessman of Seattle, received a telegram from the Northern Pacific Commissioners that was as short and to the point as it was painful to the people of Seattle: “We have located the terminus on Commencement Bay.”


The Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad



In the midst of this news, and the flight of some of its discouraged citizens and businesses to Tacoma, a group of Seattleites took matters into their own hands. They saw Snoqualmie Pass as the best route for a railroad connection from Puget Sound to the fertile farm country of the interior and beyond and had advocated this for years. Therefore, within days of the infamous telegram, they decided to build their own railroad across Snoqualmie Pass to Walla Walla and thereby it was hoped they could bring the produce of the region to Puget Sound cheaper and quicker that could the Northern Pacific.

This group organized the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad & Transportation Company. The Seattle & Walla Walla trustees included many of Seattle's founding fathers: Arthur A. Denny, John Collins, Franklin Matthias, Angus Mackintosh, Henry L. Yesler, James McNaught, John J. McGilvra, Dexter Horton and James M. Colman. Denny and McGilvra were appointed to visit Walla Walla and solicit their interest in the enterprise with some success. They also appealed to the Territorial Legislature and were successful in passing acts to help with financing the road.

By the spring of 1874, however, much of the early enthusiasm of others had died away and the citizens of Seattle realized it was up to them if a railroad was to be built. Unfortunately, the estimated three to four million dollars of needed capital was lacking. Even this did not stop the efforts. As Clarence Bagley records:

the people of Seattle were undaunted and never for a moment relinquished the idea that the town was to have a railroad. To overcome the lack of capital they decided to do the work themselves, and wrote May I, 1874, in large letters into the history of Seattle.

On that day the entire population of Seattle moved to Steele's Landing on the Duwamish River and with its own hands commenced to build the road. All day the men and boys worked, encouraged at noon with a tremendous meal prepared and served by the women, and by night quite a respectable lot of grading had been done. The party returned home strong in the resolve to continue the work by voluntary labor, each man giving one day a week until the road topped the mountains and dropped down on the other side.” (Bagley 1916, 1:245-246)

As might be expected, even this early enthusiasm waned. While there were visions of having fifteen miles of track in operation by the winter of 1874, they were unable to accomplish it even though they had graded twelve miles by October. The directors realized a small success in 1875 when an arrangement was made with the operators of the Renton area coal mines to finance the completion of five miles of the road from Steele's Landing to the mines. By the end of the year the Renton mines were moving their coal by rails to the port. In spite of this success the railroad's efforts to acquire capital and gain support of the Congress were unsuccessful. Railroad legislation was unpopular in Washington, D.C. at the time, given the difficulties of the early 1870s, and the Northern Pacific used its considerable clout to forestall Seattle's efforts.

Even though the dream of building this railroad from Seattle, across the Cascade Mountains and on to Walla Walla was never realized, the early success of serving the coal mines showed the path to building a successful and profitable regional railroad. In 1876, the Directors asked James M. Colman to take charge of the railroad and the name was changed to the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Company. Under Colman's leadership the railroad continued to grow and began shipping coal from the Newcastle mines in 1878.


The Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad



As Henry Villard worked to gain control of the Northern Pacific in 1880 and 1881, optimism grew in Seattle as he was seen as sympathetic to Seattle's interests. In 1880, Villard and others formed the Oregon Improvement Company (OIC) as a holding company of the Northern Pacific. One of its express purposes was to take control and expand the existing Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad. The OIC formed the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company, with the ever-present Arthur A. Denny its Resident Director. The Columbia and Puget Sound purchased the Seattle and Walla Walla soon after.

During Villard's tenure, in 1883, the Northern Pacific completed the Cascade Division from Tacoma over Stampede Pass to eastern Washington and provided a tenuous connection between Tacoma and Seattle by way of what would later be known as the “Orphan Road.” The latter was largely left inactive by the Northern Pacific after Villard was removed from office in 1884.

1884, however, saw the completion of the Columbia and Puget Sound extension up the Cedar River to the Black Diamond mines. This spurred the further growth of coal mining in southeast King County through the 1880s and into the 1890s. By this time extensive investigations had been carried out to locate and develop coal deposits throughout this area.


Development of the Regional Clay Products Industry



“In the history of every country yet brought out of a condition of barbarism into one of civilization it is found that the making of brick is one of the pioneer industries.” (Bagley 1916, 2:623)

While coal mining and railroads were developing, another industry was growing along with the urbanization of Seattle and other Puget Sound communities. Brick and other clay products were essential for the growth of northwest cities. Most likely the earliest clay products used by euroamerican settlers in the northwest were brought in from elsewhere, possibly as ballast aboard ships. Brick production probably began in the Oregon's Willamette Valley before 1841. While brick production sprang up around Washington by the 1850s local demand was greater than they could supply. It appears that most brick houses built in Seattle before 1880 were built of brick from San Francisco.


The Great Seattle Fire of 1889



While the 1880s saw increased production, the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 was probably the biggest boon to the local clay industry. The fire started on the afternoon of June 6 at the southwest corner of First Avenue and Madison Street and quickly spread. Seattle had grown rapidly in the 1880s and much of this area was built on piles above the tide flats allowing fire to spread rapidly below. Rows of wooden frame structures, sawmills, lumber yards, wooden sheds, wooden wharves and even pavement of wooden plank provided ample fuel for the conflagration. As Bagley (1916, 1:419) puts it: “In about seven hours the entire business section was reduced to ruin; to a great area of flaming coals.”

While this disaster was costly, it also provided an opportunity, as fires have for many cities, not just to rebuild, but to build a better city. While the rebuilding was started quickly, the city also adopted an ordinance that established an area inside of which it permitted only fireproof buildings. The demand spurred the creation and growth of several local clay products manufactures: Puget Sound Brick, Tile & Terra Cotta Company, Pontiac Company, Ranke & Lohse Company, Carmi Dibble, Seattle Brick & Tile Company, and others on the shores of Lakes Union and Washington. The variety of clay products manufactured locally also increased to include fire brick, sewer pipe, drain tile, architectural terracotta, vitrified paving brick and more.


Puget Sound Fire Clay Company, 1889-1892



One of the companies to form shortly after the Great Fire was the Puget Sound Fire Clay Company. Its organizing officers included W. R. Forrest as president, Charles E. Plimpton as secretary, William Calhoun as treasurer, and Joseph Sants, who had previous experience in the clay industry, as the general manager. A few months later, George W. Kummer, who also had previous experience in clay products, gained stock in the company and became the secretary and treasurer. The company's offices and yard were at the southeast corner of First Avenue South and Jackson Street. It had forty-acres of clay and coal lands on the Green River near Black Diamond, which became known as Kummer, and ten acres of land near Van Asselt that were used for a factory. The company mined both clay and coal at Kummer, with the coal strictly for use at the company's plant. The plant built at Van Asselt, also known as the “pottery,” had two small kilns, twenty-four feet in diameter,and sewer pipe quickly became the principal product. The company employed about thirty men in the early years.

Between 1889 and 1892, Puget Sound Fire Clay Company “supplied pipe for miles and miles of sewerage in this [Seattle] and other cities on the Sound” (Seattle Press-Times 1892). However, the company faced difficulties throughout these years. It had a hard time marketing its products and strikes in 1891 at the Kummer mines forced the company to close its plant for six months. The company underestimated it capital requirements, stockholders were numerous and widely scattered, and the company became heavily indebted.

One of Puget Sound Fire Clay's principal debt holders was none other than Seattle founding father Arthur A. Denny. It appears that in 1891, Denny was pondering the clay industry and his interest in the company. Denny and George W. Kummer took an extensive, nationwide tour in the summer of 1891 to examine aspects of the clay manufacturing industry. Denny and Kummer went east on the Canadian Pacific Railroad to Winnipeg, then to Ohio, Kentucky and western Pennsylvania to examine pipe and firebrick concerns. Denny had to have been encouraged when, in Portsmouth, Ohio, they presented a sample of their fire clay to Mr. Adams of the Portsmouth Fire Brick Company, suppliers of brick to Pittsburg blast furnaces. Mr. Adams declared “You will make a brick that will melt ours” (Seattle Press Times 1892). The pair returned to Seattle via Albuquerque, New Mexico and California.

It can only be assumed that the above trip impressed upon Denny the possibilities of clay product manufacturing to the regional economy. In 1892, Denny made a proposition to the Puget Sound Fire Clay Company to take over the company, plant and mines, pay all of its indebtedness and pay a “suitable” amount for the stock. The company agreed and on April 1st, the Denny Clay Company took over the Puget Sound Fire Clay Company.


Denny Clay Company Founded: 1892



Articles of Incorporation for the Denny Clay Company had been signed on March 28, 1892. The company had a capital stock of $200,000 split into 2000, $100 shares. The company was definitely to be a Denny family enterprise. Arthur A. Denny was the president, Orion O. Denny was vice president, and Charles L. Denny was treasurer and assistant manager. Others involved in the incorporation were E. F. Blaine, Mary M. Miller, William M. Calhoun, and George W. Kummer. The latter two were the only remaining stockholders from the Puget Sound Fire Clay Company.

As the Articles of Incorporation state, the company was “formed for the purpose of mining coal, fire and pottery clays, and manufacturing fire and pottery clays and other materials into sewer pipe, fire brick, paving brick, fireproof materials, pottery and other articles of trade and commerce, and in furtherance thereof to buy, sell, mortgage, develop, construct and operate mines, ditches, tunnels, pavements, real estate, mills, factories, buildings, millsites, townsites, railroads, wagonroads, steamboats, waterways, and do all things appertaining to and necessary in mining, selling and manufacturing the products aforesaid” (WSAPSRB 1892).

Not only was the new company started with adequate capital, but it also had sufficient business in line to grow from the start. As of its takeover of Puget Sound Fire Clay, the company had over $60,000 in contracts already on the books. If demand were there, it had the capacity to turn out $1,000,000 worth of pipe in a year. At that time the company employed about eighty men split almost equally between the plant and the mines and working overtime.

The factory at Van Asselt was L-shaped. The main building was 80 feet by 150 feet and the wing was 65 feet by 85 feet. Behind the building were the five circular, crown-topped, down draft sewer pipe kilns, two of which were thirty feet in diameter, the other three were twenty-two feet in diameter. The company was in the process of erecting additional kilns in April 1892, with plans to have ten total. Besides sewer pipe the company was making brick – the pug mill for this purpose had a capacity of 60,000 bricks per day. The plant also produced a large variety of fire-proofing and terracotta. Ornamental terracotta was burned in separate muffled kilns. These kilns were cone-shaped and burned by radiated heat rather than direct flame. The line of ornamental products included lawn vases, umbrella stands, jardinieres, fancy design and rustic work. Artistic workmen were responsible for creating plaster molds for these designs.

The mines at Kummer, on the Green River, were connected to the Cedar River branch of the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad by two miles of track owned by Denny Clay and a 600 foot incline down to the mines. There were three tunnels driven into the foot of the mountain. Deposits of fire clay, sewer pipe clay and coal lay in adjacent layers with a pitch of about 45 degrees.

While at the time Denny Clay Company was launched in April, 1892, there was no mention of Taylor or other mines or prospects worked by the company other than those at Kummer, it is easy to imagine that Mr. Denny and others were looking out for additional sources of material for their industry. The company was well-situated to take advantage of new opportunities that may come its way. It was adequately financed, had a modern, expanding factory, had mines with high-quality raw material, and had leadership that was well-connected with interests in other companies and, certainly, would have knowledge of any new discoveries of clay and coal it would find of interest.


The Columbia & Puget Sound Spur and the Sherwoods Prospects: 1891-1893



In 1892, the Columbia & Puget Sound completed a branch of it's Cedar River extension into Section 3 of Township 22 North, Range 17 East, Willamette Meridian, the future site of the Taylor mines, town site and factory. The motivations for constructing this branch are uncertain since no documentary evidence has been found to clarify them. It has been mentioned by some that the spur to Taylor was originally constructed in support of logging operations to supply timbers to Oregon Improvement Company mines elsewhere, but it seems unlikely since timbers could be had almost anywhere in western Washington.

Section 3 was part of the Northern Pacific Railroad's land grant, by which it was given alternating sections of land by the federal government. The General Land Office (GLO) surveyed this and Township 23 to the north in 1891 and the plats were completed and filed in 1893. The GLO plat shows only scattered trails in section 3 at the time of the 1891 survey. It appears that some extensive prospecting may have been done here at least starting in 1891 (Evans 1912:134), but whether this was done by Denny interests or Northern Pacific interests is uncertain. Northern Pacific deeded a portion of section 3 to the Denny Clay Company in 1893. This would be the future of the Taylor mines, town site and factory.

Exactly how all of the above came to be are not certain. It can be assumed, however, that the corporate interrelationships of Arthur Denny and others through the Denny Clay Company, Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, Oregon Improvement Company, and Northern Pacific Railroad were key to Denny Clay acquiring the property and assuring railroad access for its needs. It is almost certain that it was known by the Northern Pacific and its subsidiaries that coal was to be had there.

It seems likely that the Columbia & Puget Sound spur was constructed because of the coal resources located there. It may have been that it was originally the intention of the Oregon Improvement Company to improve the property as a coal mine but decided against this as the coal was not of the quality or quantity to warrant a coal mining operation. It may be that the Denny interests knew of the rich clay and shale deposits, along with coal suitable for the needs of clay manufacturing, at Taylor, and through its corporate interrelationships, arranged to acquire the property and have railroad access. So far, no documentary evidence has been found to clarify these details.

The first direct reference to any activity at Taylor comes from a May 1893 article, “The Coal Fields of Western Washington” by T. B. Cory, published in The Journal of the Illinois Mining Institute. The article contains a map (Cory 1893:16) that clearly shows the Columbia & Puget Sound spur line to the future location of Taylor but shows “Sherwoods” at the end of the spur. Cory notes “Scattered all along from one mile south of Palmer to as far north as Grand Ridge are dozens of holes and tunnels, on some of which considerable work has been done, especially at Sherwoods, Raging River and Niblock” (Cory 1893:23). The prospects at Taylor were likely known as Sherwood, or Sherwoods, given the location of the Sherwood placer claim and Sherwood shingle mill and lumber camp about one mile to the west.

While there is much uncertainty regarding the early discovery and prospecting of Taylor, including when and why the name Taylor was adopted, it is certain that by 1893 it was poised for development. Denny Clay had acquired sufficient property rights to develop the mines and locate a town and factory if needed; the company had railroad access at its disposal; and the deposits had been proven worthy of further investment.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Introduction

Washington State and much of the western United States is dotted with town sites that arose alongside extractive and manufacturing activities in the formative years of the region. Some of these communities survive and thrive but many have seemingly disappeared from the contemporary landscape. Taylor, Washington is one of those “vanished” towns.

Approximately 25 miles southeast of Seattle in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, Taylor was established in support of clay and coal mining, and clay-product manufacturing. The Taylor site is presently owned by the city of Seattle, as Taylor is within the boundaries of the Cedar River Watershed, the primary source of water for the city.

A visitor to Taylor between the 1890s and 1940s would have found a community of up to several hundred people actively engaged in the mining of coal, clay and shale, and the manufacture of various clay products. He would have seen rows of workers' family homes, mine tracks along the hillsides from the mines to the factory, and rail cars pulled alongside rows of stacked sewer pipe, conduit, tile and brick being loaded for shipment throughout the western United States and beyond. Today the community is gone, but many features and artifacts remain providing a sense of the town’s history and material for study by the historical archaeologist.

While some underground mine openings have been sealed in recent years, an extensive set of large, irregular, funnel-shaped pits, resulting from mining practices, characterize the ridge above. Overgrown roadbeds from mine tracks and railroad lines crosscut the hillsides. Foundations, wall remnants, and openings to drying tunnels mark the remains of the factory complex. Distinctive hills formed by the dumping of waste rock – now covered with vegetation – mark the area. Perhaps most striking, is the amount of remaining clay products – stacks of tile and conduit, mounds of brick, and pipe of all sizes

The story of Taylor begins in the context of the settlement and development of western Washington in the late 1800s. Specifically, it began as part of the development of coal mining, railroads, the clay industry and the growth of regional urban centers. The Denny Clay Company opened mining operations in the 1890s and soon after erected a clay products factory. The company-owned town of Taylor grew alongside the company's operations. In 1905 the Denny Clay Company was absorbed into the Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Company. By 1910 the new company had greatly expanded the factory and the town had grown to a population of nearly 1000. While the City of Seattle considered condemning the town and including it in its acquisition of properties within the Cedar River watershed the company was able to forestall condemnation and the town, mine and factory continued to thrive well into the 1920s.

In 1927, Gladding-McBean & Company acquired Denny-Renton and took over operations of the factory and ownership of the town. Even by that time signs of decline were apparent and the Great Depression of the 1930s accelerated the process. By the early 1940s the town was a remnant of what it once was. While the factory was still in operation it was clearly in a state of disrepair and only a handful of residents remained. At this time the City of Seattle renewed discussions to condemn the town site and add it to its Cedar River Watershed property. The City condemned the town and took over ownership and management of the town site in 1947. Since that time it has been owned by the City of Seattle.

The birth, life and decline of Taylor is intimately intertwined with the growth and development of Seattle along with regional and national events. Seattle capitalists funded and managed its early discovery and development. Taylor's raw materials and manufactured products were key to building Seattle – bricks for street paving, sewer pipe for sanitation, ornamental terra cotta and facing brick for buildings and more. Seattle's growth and need of a secure water supply had much to do with the ultimate demise of Taylor in the 1940s although national economic trends and the depletion of raw material at Taylor itself had nearly killed the town already.