The Whitney Mill Chimney, Garibaldi, OR. 97118.
Posted by: 
greysman
N 45° 33.610 W 123° 54.365
10T E 429286 N 5045580
This lonely chimney is all that is left of the mill which opened on this site in 1918. The chimney erected 1927-8 by the Hammond Co.
Waymark Code: WMJJC6
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 11/24/2013
Views: 16
The original mill on this site opened in 1918. The chimney dates from 1927-28 and was constructed by the Hammond Company, the third owners of the mill.
In 1918 Cummings-Moberly built a sawmill on this site. Thanks to the construction of the P.R.&N. Railroad, they had a distinct advantage over the other mill in Garibaldi the Smith Mill which relied on coastal schooners to transport its lumber. Shipping by rail meant the new mill was not subject to the tides and weather as were ships. Even so, Cummings-Moberly went broke in 1920 and was taken over by the Whitney Company which operated until 1924 when it too was sold to A.B. Hammond.
Under Hammond the mill became one of the largest on the West Coast. He was a benevolent employer who, in slow market times, built houses for the workers to keep them busy. By the late 1920’s Garibaldi was known as a “company town” providing homes for mill personnel, a boarding house at the Whitney Inn, and some of the best baseball teams on the west coast. Hammond built a smoke stack, 1927-8, to keep from suffocating the town’s populace as there was a large electric generating plant fired by wood waste here. In 1930 the wooden “G” was erected on the steep slope behind the City proudly proclaiming, “We are Garibaldians”. The big “G” and the smokestack remain to this day as does the water tower which was necessary to provide sufficient water pressure to fight fires. The Hammond Mill also provided the City’s first fire truck (a 1924 Model T hose-bed truck which the City still owns) along with the men to fight the fires.
When the Great Depression caused the closure of the Hammond Mill in 1935 Mr. Hammond owned a fleet of ships, a railroad, and dozens of logging camps. Ultimately, as a result of the flagging economy, each of the divisions was forced to close. When A.B. Hammond died in 1935 his assets had to be sold to pay the inheritance tax. Garibaldi soon fell into a malaise of unemployment and empty houses.
In 2005 Old Mill Investment LLC composed of a quartet of local investors acquired the property; their first objective to refurbish the site and existing buildings, returning the park to a popular “gathering place” for tourists, travelers and sportsmen. Long term plans call for redevelopment of the property into a mixed use waterfront community comprised of residential, recreation and commercial uses. A large interpretive park is envisioned in the Miami Cove estuary. Just as the Old Mill played a major role in the City’s past, it is certain to be a big part of its future.
Adapted from 'Garibaldi and the Old Mill History' at http://www.oldmill.us/html/history.html