Klamath Heritage: Weyerhaeuser Mill
/Weyerhaeuser Mill, 1930 (Submitted by Klamath County Museum)
Klamath County Museum’s Photo of the Week for Nov. 4, 2018, shows the Weyerhaeuser Company mill near Klamath Falls not long after it opened in 1929. With four headrigs (large saws for cutting old-growth timber), the plant was described as the largest yellow pine sawmill in the western United States.
The 280-foot-tall smokestack seen at center rose from the mill’s power plant. Smoke is seen rising from the slab burner to the left of the sawmill. The long building immediately to the right of the sawmill is the green chain, where freshly cut lumber was sorted. Continuing on to the right are the rough lumber shed, the box factory, the planing mill, and at far right the loading docks.
At far left is a water tower that supplied the mill. Two water towers within the mill facility served primarily for fire protection.
The cluster of buildings at left-center were company-owned homes for employees. Museum staff believes the two-story building seen at center is the Weyerhaeuser Hotel. To the right of the hotel is the Glencourt Apartment building. Both buildings still stand on Weyerhaeuser Road.
See a Google Streetview of these buildings
The cluster of homes seen below center were in the West Klamath subdivision, which opened in 1929. Developers envisioned West Klamath becoming a city of 5,000 or more residents. Though several additional homes were built in the subdivision – with most still standing to this day – West Klamath never became an incorporated city.
See our comment below for a photo with additional labeling.
The Weyerhaeuser mill cut its first log on Dec. 16, 1929, and its last log on May 29, 1992. The sawmill was dismantled. The remaining mill operations were sold to Collins Products in 1996.
Information provided for Klamath Heritage is provided courtesy the Klamath County Museum.