Statements from “The Accountant”
Carlsborg Mill and Timber Company
Carlsborg Mill and Timber Company’s Operating Statements for the month of July, 1941. Meticulously hand-typed onion paper, this eight page document includes a complete account of all assets, liabilities, taxes, labor costs, log inventory, production output, accounts payable and receivable, for both the mill and shingle operation.
The history of the Carlsborg Mill’s many owners has been shared before. Solely quoted from Oscar Fogde’s short Carlsborg section in the Clallam County Historical Society’s book ‘Jimmy Come Lately; History of Clallam County’. Published January 1st, 1971. Oscar experienced these days first hand. Telling tales of the characters that worked at the mill and lived around the neighborhood. Including, references to himself as the violinist in the Vautier brothers band. Together they provided the soundtrack to the silent films of the Carlsborg theater. Born in Finland in 1894, he certainly would have played and attended events at the neighboring ‘Finn Hall’ in the nearby community of Agnew. He was in the US Navy during WW1 and according to the U.S. Census, in 1940 he was 46 years old and lived in Carlsborg, Washington, with his wife Margaretta. Occupation, Accountant for the Carlsborg Mill.
Carlsborg Mill and Timber Company
One could rightly presume that Oscar is directly responsible for the gathering of this document’s contents and most likely the execution of each keystroke. At the time it appears the mill was indebted to him for the amount of $190.52.
His singular, somewhat whimsical, account of the mill’s history and the many times it has been referenced simply reinforces the importance of sharing our own stories. Every tale told, no matter how assumingly insignificant or embellished, could potentially be the next thread needed to tie another local oral history story together.
This is why a comment section was added to this Carlsborg History page. You can now easily contribute to our records. Pictures or stories from any era of Carlsborg will be archived and woven in to the fabric of our history. Please note, a statute of limitations applies here to the Key Hole Tavern and Mill Pond generations.
But I digress, once again reiterating Oscar’s accounts because it is currently the best foundation available for us to build our future stories upon…
From its beginning in the summer of 1915, to its final closing in the fall of 1967, The Carlsborg Mill exchanged hands many times and experienced several periods of closer throughout its 52 year existence. Those ebbs and flows were not always easy times for the community that had built up around its 87 acre location. Known today as the Carlsborg Business Park Loop just 4 miles west of Sequim Wa.
It was during the depression in 1933 when C.J. Erikson, the original founder, sold the Carlsborg Mill and Timber Company to a partnership of five. Lou Hubbard, Sequim; W. Washburn, Neah Bay; Victor Soderberg, manager; Nichols and Trumbull of Port Angeles. Though unfortunately that did not last long.
In 1936, the mill was sold to a Seattle firm, which intended to scrap it. However, in the fall of that same year a group of lumbermen from Grays Harbor, Lawrence McLellan, Harry O'Donnell and William Westover purchased it. Over the next few months they gave it a much needed overhaul and reopened it as the Dungeness Timber Company in January of 1937. They operated it until 1942, when the operation was taken over by Crescent Logging Company.
Just five years later it would once again gain new ownership, George and John Pankratz, of the Standard Lumber Company, who also operated a shingle mill on Ediz Hook in Port Angeles. During the ‘Great Forks Fire’ in September of 1951, 33,000 acres and 32 buildings quickly ignited along with several lumber mills. The loggers along with 500 firefighters were essential in containing and extinguishing the fire. Selective logging and road construction in the Olympic National Park was granted and went out to bid. The Pankratz‘s operation was awarded the contract. This was a rare exception and lumber from this operation ultimately made its way in to the heart of Carlsborg.
After a 13 year run, in 1960 the Standard Lumber Company sold the mill once again, this time to the one that would be the last. The Orban Lumber Company of Pasadena California operated the Carlsborg Mill until its final closing in the fall of 1967. With an annual payroll in excess of $300,000, combined with climbing interest rates and a decline in construction, permanent closure was the only remaining option.
The Port of Port Angeles obtained the property from Orban lumber in 1967. Attempts were made to market the commercial property with railway access without success. The railroad’s last train passed through in 1985. The property remained vacant for 24 years as the remnants of the old mill were slowly scrapped and dispersed around the area. Eventually leaving no trace of the significant operation that once established and dominated our community.
It was during the McLellan, O'Donnell and Westover era when this report was generated, just months before it's sale to a potential new buyer.
Look closely and you’ll see that the local Accounts Receivable page includes many recognizable names from the area. Stop in for a visit and see the original documents in person. To clear your family name of any and all outstanding debts, payments can now be made directly to the Carlsborg Store.
