McIntosh, Washington

McIntosh, Washington. . From 1871 to 1873 the Northern Pacific Railroad constructed the “Prairie Line” from Kalama on the Columbia River to Tacoma on Puget Sound. With the coming of the railroad, logging and milling operations moved inland along the rails. Many of these mills, including McIntosh, also operated narrow-gauge logging railroads reaching into the vast old-growth forests. In 1889 a new post office, “Coinmo,” began operating at this site. The following year the NPRR designated a station “McIntosh” in honor of one of its company officials., The first mill here was the “Nesqually Mill Co.” By 1900 the mill was called the Perry Mill, owned by Tenino merchant Albert Perry and George Lawler, an experienced mill manager from Tacoma. By 1904 financial difficulties sent the mill into receivership. A short time later the entire operation burned in a mysterious fire. In the aftermath Perry emerged as sole owner and put a new mill in operation., The Perry Mill was typical of Western Washington mills of the era. The work was grueling and employee turnover hgh. By the early 1900s immigrant labor, mainly Scandinavians and Japanese, comprised the majority of the labor at the mill., The Perry Mill continued into the 1920s when it was acquired by the Green River Lumber Co. (GRLCo.) By then, lowland supplies of timber were diminishing and many mills moved operations closer to the uncut high mountain forests. By 1928 the GRLCo. also declared bankruptcy., By World War II most residents of McIntosh departed. Equipment and buildings were moved or dismantled, leaving only a very large pile of sawdust. In the 1990s the Prarie Line rails were removed. Today a few scattered bricks and pilings are the only remains of McIntosh. Its legacy is the financial foothold it provided to new immigrants whose descendants remain a part of Thurston County., [Sidebar] , Lumber and Shingle Mills of Thurston County, 1909 , Bordeaux: Mumby Lumber Co. . Mumby Shingle Co. , Bucoda: Hanaford Lumber Co. . Mutual Lumber Co. . Raymer Lumber Co. . Steinhart Lumber Co. , Gate: Gate City Lumber Co. , Lacey: Union Lumber Co. , Little Rock: Viora Shingle Co. . Salmon Creek Lumber Co. . Little Rock Lumber Co. , Olympia: Abqua Lumber Co. . Frank Guslander . HG Richardson . Olympia Cedar Co. . Thos. Russell . Olympia Door Co. . Capital City Lumber Co. . Olympia Lumber Co. , Rainier: Bob White Lumber Co. . Laramie Bros. . HA Burnham , Sherlock (Nisqually): Card and Son . Molberg and Co. . Robinson and Swift , Tenino: Blumauer Lumber Co. . Harm and Brown . Jonas Spar and Lumber Co. . Mentzer Bros. , Tumwater: Lea Lumber Co. . Crowell Lumber Co. , Yelm: Mossman Bros., Captions (clockwise from top left) , . Boiler room, Perry Mill Co. Washington State Historical Society , . McIntosh, Washington , Looking northeast, c. 1928 , . Japanese residing at McIntosh, 1920 Census