DescriptionSawmill of the Potlatch Lumber Company, April 17, 1906 - Potlatch, Idaho (51211332295).jpg |
SAW MILL, POTLATCH LUMBER CO. POTLATCH, IDAHO. APRIL 17-06.
Date: April 17, 1906 (undivided back)
Source Type: Postcard
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Charles P. Wilkinson
Postmark: None
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: The Potlatch Lumber Company began construction of a mammoth sawmill facility in northern Latah County, Idaho, along the Palouse River in 1905. The mill was completed in 1906 and operated until 1981.
The designer production facility was William Alfred Wilkinson (b. 1855, d. 1913), a nationally renowned architect of sawmills during this time period who operated from Minneapolis. Wilkinson was paid $10,000 to design the facility and it cost approximately $300,000 to construct (about $9.4 million in 2021 dollars).
The community of Potlatch was built and owned by the Potlatch Lumber Company and was one of the major "company towns" that existed in the United States. More than 200 structures in the town were designed by architect C. Ferris White.
The company, operating as a real estate investment trust (REIT), still exists [2021] as PotlatchDeltic Corporation and remains as one of Idaho's largest private land owners.
Through the middle of the image, furthest to the right, is the Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway Company (W.I. & M. Railway) depot, which exists today [2021] and has be restored to its original specifications.
In the background are the houses constructed by the Potlatch Lumber Company to shelter its workers. A large number of these home still stand in the community.
William Alfred Wilkinson son, Charles Patton Wilkinson, who was also a partner in his father's sawmill design business, took this photograph.
Sources:
Find A Grave (<a href="http://www.findagrave.com" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.findagrave.com</a>), Memorial No. 71666672
The Minneapolis Morning Tribune, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota; August 9, 1913; Volume 46, Number 233, Page 9, Column 3. Column titled "William A. Wilkinson Dead."
Petersen, Keith C. 1987. Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press. 284 p.
Copyright 2021. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook. |