Overview

This transportation conglomerate owned by the railroad mogul Henry Villard, opened this sawmill operation in Seattle's Downtown by at least 1888. The lumber mill was built on pilings sunk into the tidelands of Elliott Bay. The mill would discard sawmill waste, mostly sawdust, directly into the bay.

Building History

The Oregon Improvement Company, a diversified railroad and transportation company founded in 1880 by Henry Villard, (1835-1900), opened this sawmill in 1888 on the Seattle Waterfront. The Oregon Improvement Company already had dock locations in this vicinity prior to the opening of the sawmill, including its wharf serving the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad, just to the west. The sawmill stood at the foot of Second Avenue on what was the waterfront in 1889, also nearby to Villard's Northern Pacific Railway trestle over the Seattle tidelands.

The Oregon Improvement Company Sawmill stood just to the east of the larger Stetson and Post Mill Company's Sawmill situated at the end of Commercial Street (later renamed 1st Avenue South).

Building Notes

Sanborn Map Company notes about the Oregon Improvement Company summarized the building and its fire prevention measures: “Buildings new & substantial, roof painted with fire proof paint. M’f’y principally rough lumber, also sash, doors & finished lumber. 70 employees. 2 night watchmen, watch clock, hourly rounds, electric lights, mill in operation night & day. Buildings constructed on piling. Sawdust burned under boilers or dumped in bay.” (See Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington, 1888, [New York, NY: Sanborn Map Company, 1888], Sheet #9.) This map also noted that the roofline was protected by a long sprinkler pipe.

The mill complex consisted of several parts. The largest component was a rectangular, two-story space, its long-dimension running east-west. The first and second floors of this main building housed sawing operations, with some planing occurring on the first. A rectangular section protruded from this main building's north side, nearer to the west end of the building. This protruding space contained plaining operations on floor one and door manufacturing on floor two. A platform stood on the main rectangle’s west side, possibly to take in unmilled logs from ships. A causeway supporting a tram extended from the platform to the west, presumably to unload waiting ships. Another elevated tramway extended off the protruding door and planing section to the north. This tramway connected the mill to a storage house located just to the south of the Northern Pacific Railway tracks.

Demolition

This sawmill did not last long, as it burned in the Great Seattle Fire of 06/06/1889.

PCAD id: 23562