From the 1852 founding of Nicholas DeLinn’s mill - the first in Tacoma - it was apparent that Tacoma was destined to be a city largely dependent on its lumber industry. Too many necessary assets were combined in close proximity for the powerful land, timber and railroad barons to neglect Tacoma for long. Its large, sheltered deep water port allowed for easy economic movement of the product - Lumber - found in such abundance throughout the Northwest. When, in 1873, the Northern Pacific Railroad selected Tacoma as its Western terminus, it
ensured that also rail transportation would be close at hand.

The number of operating mills fluctuated during these early years. In 1887 there were five sawmills, three planing mills and one shingle mill within the city limits. In 1889, the City Directory listed twenty-five “lumber manufacturers and dealers.” By 1890
there were more than twenty mills operating in Tacoma, turning out an average of 300,000,000 feet of sawn lumber and employing over 2,000 laborers. By 1927, this number had increased to 70 mills.

The first mill on the site which eventually became the DICKMAN LUMBER COMPANY was built by Abraham Coon Young. A.C. Young arrived in Tacoma in 1889 and built his shingle mill in Old Tacoma. He quickly recognized the potential for lumber mills along Old Town’s waterfront, combining the assets of a deep water port with the close proximity of seemingly inexhaustible virgin forests. Soon after, A.C. Young added a sawmill to his shingle mill. He sold the mills during the financial panic of 1893.

C.D. Danaher purchased the mill soon after, and then in July 1922 the Danaher Lumber Company was purchased by Leonard Howarth and R.L. Dickman for the sum of $50,000,000.

R.L. Dickman was a highly esteemed and respected member of the Tacoma business community. At the time of the purchase in 1922, R.L. Dickman, Sr., also acquired the adjacent waterfront property, extending the size of the lumber company to 1300 front feet from its previous 500 front feet.

The Dickman Mill, under the stewardship of R.L. Dickman II went on for many successful years. it was the last intact, operating mill. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a fire in 1977. The Dickman Mill is now a park and if you visit Dickman Mill Park on Ruston Way, much of the footprint of the mill is still clearly visible.

(Note this short excerpt is taken from A Short History of the Dickman Lumber Company by R.L. Dickman II. To obtain a full copy of the history, call Dorothy Wilhelm at 253-582-4565.)