Timber has always been one of the principle industries in the United
States. The tasks and technologies associated with logging trees,
hauling them to sawmills and other forest product plants, processing
them into useable products, and then moving those to market always have
left substantial marks on both history and the landscape. Yet the
industry has never been static, and changing economics, technologies,
social pressures, and other forces have left many traces of the past as
the new replaced the old, as plants opened and closed, and as values and
philosophies shifted.
The ghosts of the timber industry come in many forms, such as abandoned
sawmill sites, stumps in the forest, static displays in city parks and
museums, tourist attractions, and geographic place names. Taken
together, they tell the story of a way of life that, while it continues
today, has radically changed from the old ways. This book seeks to
present a few snapshot views of some of these remnants in the Pacific
Coast states, explaining their role both in history and in the present.