This photo of the Nisqually Power Plant from 1911 shows quite a bit of detail.
I found this information in History of Southeastern Pierce County:
“The Alder mill shut down in 1911 and burned in 1912. A good small shingle mill was set up on the Chas. Boettcher place but soon ran out of cedar. Many of the men employed by the mill moved away. About this same time, the City of Tacoma finished the LaGrande power plant and some of the Alder people found steady employment there. Also, during this same time, Mr. Wm. Montgall built a small mill on the northwest corner of the John Malm homestead and employed about two dozen men including about a dozen Japanese who lived in a bunkhouse that used to belong to the Alder Mill. Co.”
On a side note, while researching this, I ran across a 1910 Supreme Court Case, City of Tacoma v. Nisqually Power Co., regarding eminent domain. It basically gave Tacoma the right to condemn the land to create the power plant.
If you have more information about the power plant, please feel free to share.
Photo courtesy of Diane Mettler.
Click on image to enlarge.
Eatonville To Rainier 