For those of you who find town of National, and the mill that used operate there, fascinating, then you’re in for a treat. This image comes from David Gestrid. He says, “My dad was born in National. My grandparents owned a service station there for quite a while.”
He adds that his dad had a hand drawn map of town that he donated to a museum in the area, or something similar. So, if anyone has any information on that, please let me know.
In the meantime, this picture hangs on David’s wall and is a panorama of the mill at National. The other shots are are closer looks are various sections of the photo.
The note at the top is more than a caption. It reads:
This panorama is just the mill yard, it does not include the sawmill building, lath mill, shingle mill, or the huge dry sheds used to store the finished lumber.
After forty years of operating, Mr. Demerest said when the army took his Japanese away who worked there, he would sell the mill for scrap. They came and loaded up my school friends, their parents and we never saw them again, in February 1942.
This was the Pacific National Lumber Co., seven mile east of Elbe, Washington, all that is left of the mill and town is one house and a little church. The mill was a half mile long and a quarter mile wide, not including the town which was on the sound side of the hi-way, mill in flat south of the town.
It cut 280,000 to 300,000 board feet of lumber and timbers a day. Big timbers were its specialty. In 1943 they cut keels for mine sweeper 128 feet long.”
Photos courtesy of David Gestrid.
Click on images to enlarge.
Eatonville To Rainier 