A brief history of the

West Side Lumber Company

Tuolumne, California

Compiled by the TCMM Historical Research Committee

It all began in 1899 when Frank Baker agreed to sell part of his ranch to the West Side Flume and Lumber Company.

Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, local mines provided work for several hundred men and supported their families. The importance of gold mining diminished significantly when the West Side Flume and Lumber Company built a sawmill on Turnback Creek and a logging railroad to access timberland to the east.

Overnight the regional economy changed from dependence on gold, ranching, and farming to one dependent on lumber production. The transition was not quick, and it did not come without problems. There was an intense rivalry, and often-physical encounters, between those who made their living from gold mining and the outsiders who converted the trees into lumber, hauling the product to the distant markets. It was many years before the differences between miners, the old timers, and lumbermen, the newcomers, were reconciled and the new industry accepted.

The twentieth century saw the greatest growth of the Tuolumne community. Most of the community's architectural environment is less than 100 years old, due to both developments of the logging industry and to several fires, which destroyed much of the original nineteenth century town. In 1900 the Tuolumne Community had a population of about 2,400 individuals. In 1905, it boasted about 2,300 individuals. In 1912 the population diminished to 1,800.

While the Gold Rush impacted the Native American Me-Wuk community, the West Side Flume and Lumber Company had the an impact on Tuolumne's economy and settlement of the community by other cultural groups. The company was organized to hold title to a large amount of acreage located in the mountains east of Tuolumne and to carry out a long term harvesting program. One historian had noted: "The West Side Lumber Company had its beginnings back in the spring of 1899, when William H. Crocker, the son of Charles Crocker of 'The Big Four' and Central Pacific fame, arrived by stagecoach in Summersville (now known as Tuolumne)…..to survey his holdings of some 55,000 acres of Tuolumne timber. With Crocker were his cousin, Henry Crocker, Charles F. Gardner, William Newell and Thomas S. Bullock, then chief of construction for the Sierra Railway.

On May 31, 1889 [sic], the West Side Flume and Lumber Company was formed. Partners in W.S.F.& L. were the Crockers, Bullock, Gardner, and Wellington Gregg."

In 1897, the Crockers, Thomas S. Bullock, and Prince Andre Poniatowski had formed the Sierra Railway, which was built eastward from Oakdale to Jamestown. By 1899, the Sierra Railway had been extended to Sonora, only 11 miles from the West Side Flume & Lumber Company's new mill sight at Carters, soon to be renamed Tuolumne. Thus, the beginning of a "Company Town".

Intrinsically linked to the success of West Side was the arrival of the railroad. The Sierra Railway reached the terminal at Tuolumne in January of 1900. Regular passenger service commenced on February 1, 1900. The association between the Sierra Railway and the West Side Flume & Lumber Company resulted in increased production. Logs brought to the mill via the West Side Flume & Lumber Company's narrow gauge railroad were milled and then loaded on the Sierra Railway and shipped to market. Conversely, passengers brought to the Sierra Railway's depot at Carters could be transferred to the narrow gauge railway and taken to the tourist hotels that were planned.

William H. and Henry J. Crocker, who were involved with the Sierra Railroad and had Tuolumne timber holdings, built the first seven miles of narrow gauge railroad track. Over the years, the track grew into 75 miles of main line and some 250 miles of spur track that reached lumber camps at various locations within the company's 60,000 acres of virgin timber holdings. The spurs were built without ballast and therefore made logging impossible after the rainy season began, since the track would sink under the weight of the loaded lumber trains. Chinese laborers built the first seven miles of narrow gauge railroad track.

The Crocker group was also interested in building a railroad from Carters to Cherry Valley, Hetch Hetchy Valley and, ultimately, Yosemite Valley. The Sierra Railway would be the connecting line to the standard rail lines still extant in the San Joaquin Valley. The Crocker group's vision of becoming a grand tourist line did not go far beyond the railroad's name: The Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley Railroad. The Cherry Valley name was used for a short time many years later. The logging railroad eventually did get close to Cherry Valley (some 70 miles by rail) but the aim, by then, was accessing the lumber company's various timber holdings, not tourism.

Upon signing the agreement to purchase the land in the area then known as Summersville and later Carters, West Side immediately commenced plans for the construction of a massive sawmill with necessary drying sheds, storage yards and, ultimately, a modern box factory. Turnback Creek was dammed and a large pond created for log storage prior to milling. Within a year the company was producing an average of 30,000,000 board feet of lumber annually and had become one of the principal supporters of Tuolumne County's economy, which was tenth in the nation.

In the early 1900’s, West Side Lumber Company constructed a reservoir on the east side of Carters for the town on the western slope of a ridge. Water was supplied to the reservoir from the Eureka Ditch (a service which continues today). A network of 8 inch and 16 inch water mains was installed in the town. Garages for fire hose carts were located at strategic locations around the Townsite. Starting around 1900, West Side provided electricity to the town from a generating plant at the mill. By March 1908, the Tuolumne Electric Company, on contract with West Side, provided the community with electricity. Between 1946 and 1947, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company absorbed electrical operations in Tuolumne.

The original Carters Townsite as laid out by West Side consisted of a grid of twenty-seven blocks laid out along cardinal directions. The town's road names had a requisite in that “streets” ran north and south while “avenues” ran east and west. Most of the lots were 25 feet wide by 125 feet deep. Generally, each block contained paired rows of eleven lots each with an alley separating each row.

Although topographically the Townsite is relatively flat, there are several geographic features of note: a small hill is located at the north end of Oak, Main and Pine streets; a ridge runs parallel to Carter Street for most of its length with the west facing slope extending on down below Madrone Street; and another small hill is located at the town site's southwest corner; while a low ridge runs east-west along the southeast corner of the town. Generally, the various “heights” were reserved for residences while the business district was centrally located at the flat section of the Townsite.

West Side’s storage yards, mills, logging pond, wood burner, logging railroad lines, locomotive shops, and other facilities bounded the Carter Townsite along its west flank. The West Side main office was constructed at the northwest corner of Main Street and Bay Avenue. The third story of the original office building burned in October of 1902, but the lower office was quickly rebuilt.

Carters and Bakers First Addition consisted of forty-one blocks. Although the individual lots were generally 25 feet by 125 feet deep, the total number of lots per block varied from block to block far more than in the original Carter Townsite. Another anomaly was that Gardner Avenue in the Carter Townsite did not line up with the Gardner Avenue in the Bakers First Addition.

Eventually, a portion of the First Addition’s west end was converted back to general acreage and the individual block and lot assignments voided. The east end was built up with private homes and several churches. Carter Street crossed through the central section of this addition at an angle to tie in with Summersville’s old Main Street. Several commercial establishments were built along Carter Street, a mixture of commercial and residential buildings.

Carters' original business district was centered along Chestnut and Bay Avenues from Oak Street to Carter Street. A number of commercial buildings extended north on Carter Street. The original townsite map listed a "Plaza and Railroad Reservation" on the business district's south side. This block was bordered by Bay and Fir Avenues (north and south), and Oak and Pine Streets (west and east). When the Sierra Railroad was completed in 1900, its tracks ran through the middle of the "reservation", where they still exist today and you can still see them. The railroad station was located just north of the tracks, between Main and Oak Streets, near the location of the current swimming pool. In 1904 the rest of the Plaza and Railroad Reservation was developed as a park, with leveled ground, grass, shrubs and trees, and is now known as Memorial park.

To the south of the railroad station plaza, was the Turn Back Inn. The large, two-story frame building served as a first class hotel. During its heyday, it was the second largest hostelry in the county. Intended to serve as the overnight stop between the Sierra Railway and the Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley tourist railroad, the hotel contained many amenities. Unfortunately, it burned to the ground about 1923 and is now the site of the Veterans Memorial Hall.

Another addition to the Carters Townsite came in 1901. This was called the South Addition and extended across the low ridge, which bounded the Carters townsite. This area served almost exclusively residential purposes. The land was part of the old Baker Ranch.

After the Carters and South Additions were laid out in 1901, many of the lots were built upon by West Side before they sold the lots and houses to individuals. This was particularly true of homes constructed on what became known as "the heights" above the business district, as well as laborer housing on mill property. Apparently, as workers were promoted within the West Side Company, they would relocate from the smaller houses next to the mill and around the Plaza, to progressively better accommodations elsewhere in town. Generally the larger residences were located along the "heights". Many West Side-constructed residences remain throughout the Tuolumne Community.

From 1900 to 1910, the newly created townsite lots were sold and subsequently developed. The buildings were nearly all-wood frame, with most materials coming from West Side's mill. Although single story houses were the norm for Tuolumne residences, there was a fairly wide diversity of floor plans and exterior designs. As mentioned above, many houses were built by West Side and then sold. No standardized plans have been discovered and the existing housing stock does not indicate that they were drawn from pattern books. One row of houses on Oak Street was painted red and referred to as the "Red Row". Another row of houses on Willow Avenue was painted white and referred to as the "White Row".

The southern boundary of the South Addition was Maple Avenue. Years later, the first Maple Avenue, located at the south end of the Carter and Bakers First Addition to Carters, was officially renamed Rozier Avenue. .

In 1901 the owners of West Side brought lumbermen and sawmill operators from Dubuque, Iowa, to run the operation. Under the direction of this management, the mill became profitable. All of these individuals, except two, returned to Dubuque after the mill was sold two years later.

Crocker and his associates had sold the mill to a group of eastern lumbermen in 1903. After the sale, one of the principal investors, George Johnson, met William Thorsen, who became president of the West Side's operations.

Caroline Thorsen, the wife of William Thorsen, is credited with promoting the planting of sycamore trees that we see today along many of Tuolumne's streets and avenues. (These are the trees that have the bases white-washed to repel insects.) President Thorsen, from Manistee, Wisconsin, lived in a beautiful house built for him on Apple Colony Road in 1904. The Thorsen's lived in Tuolumne only during vacations; their primary home was in Berkeley. From the Bay Area, Thorsen could manage marketing and other matters. John Prince, from Ashland, Wisconsin, secretary and general manager, lived on Pine Street. George Johnson, vice-president, took over Charles Span's elegant, Queen Anne style, "white house" at Bay and Carter. The fourth major investor was Charles Canfield, a relative of Thorsen's wife.

Under this group's direction, the company was reincorporated as the West Side Lumber Company. They dropped the "Flume" from the official title because under their direction the means of transporting logs from forest to mill was via rail lines; flumes were never used.

In 1904, Fred Nelson came to work at the mill for 25 cents an hour on a ten-hour shift. Ed Ronten arrived in 1906 and was eventually made foreman of the box factory. There were job opportunities for everyone.

Typical jobs were: steam saw operator, railroad and road equipment operators, lumberjack, mechanical shovel operator, puller of boards off the green (lumber) chain, grader, sorter, stacker, laborer, millwright, timber feller, janitor, box factory hand, sawyer, block setter, lath mill hand, and the bull gang.

In 1925, the Pickering Lumber Company purchased the West Side Lumber Company. Earlier, in 1921, Pickering had purchased the Standard Lumber Company, located a few miles distant from Tuolumne.

Then came the Depression. Like many small California towns, the Depression was devastating for Tuolumne. Pickering filed for bankruptcy and the mill was closed in 1930. Railroad operations on the West Side suspended, resulting in 1,200 - 1,500 unemployed. The town struggled, existing on County rationing, placer gold mining, and belt-tightening. Then in 1934 West Side reacquired its property from the Pickering Lumber Company and commenced operations with the help of a 3.5 million dollar Reconstruction Finance Corporation loan, one of the Roosevelt Administration's programs for economic recovery.

Tuolumne Townspeople were relieved and delighted by the mill's re-opening. They got their jobs back. A great jubilee and celebration was held around the 4^th of July and this became an annual tradition, called The Tuolumne Lumber Jubilee, and continues to this day.

The February 29, 1952, Fiftieth Anniversary edition of the Tuolumne Prospector carried a story summarizing West Side's importance to Tuolumne: "The West Side Payrolls have through the years been the main source of livelihood for the majority of the townspeople. On the physical side of the operation, there is now little in common with those early days when West Side was started. Gigantic tractors and diesel winches have replaced the steam donkey and sky lines in the woods, while the horses and wagons in the yard straining with comparatively small loads of lumber have given way to the rushing ross carriers and automatic lift trucks. Even the piles of drying lumber with their aromatic scents today rise higher in the sky by virtue of the stacking machine than was ever possible with the bar and roller of prior times, while the familiar cry of "Timber" in the woods is preceded by the high pitched whine of a gasoline power saw rather than the rhythmical chant of a crosscut. The railroad dispatcher sitting in his office at Tuolumne and clearly talking to the woods boss in his pickup truck anywhere in the logging area many miles away is a miracle of FM radio undreamed of by the company founders."

According to a local newspaper report, "Not everything has changed, however. The same spirit, which characterized these early founders, is today exemplified in the present management of the company…their faith is today realized by a company with an average seasonal employment of over 600 men and an annual payroll exceeding $2,000,000."

Likewise unchanged is the feeling of good will and interest in Community betterment…West Side encouraged the civic advancements of the town, ranging from a swimming pool filled with happy children to a town baseball team playing on a highly improved field, from an outstanding centennial pageant to a modern theater.

In 1958, Pickering Lumber Company re-acquired the property from West Side, and owned it until operations permanently ceased in 1962. One major weakness in the company was its reluctance to keep up with technological changes, despite several transfers of ownership. Its mill machinery was old and built for huge old growth logs. When the mill at Standard burned in 1945, it was rebuilt with new machinery, but "penny-wise and pound-foolish" West Side continued with the old equipment, in spite of profitable years around 1950 when they could have retooled.

Narrow-gauge railroad logging came to an end for Pickering's line in 1960. Thenceforth, log truck hauling was the sole major means of transporting the cut timber to the sawmills. Today, helicopters are frequently used to transport lumber.

In April 1962 a labor strike began, this time against Pickering. The issues were piecework rates and layoffs of retirement-age workers, as well as health and pension benefits. Additionally, the minimalist strategy of Pickering toward West Side was also an issue. The Carpenters International Union officers, who were not local people, put considerable money and energy into the strike, as it was concerned that other lumber companies would follow Pickering in refusing to join the pension pool. The strikers got very excited and occasionally violent. Just inside the Pickering fence there was a huge green painted shed for storing "green lumber". Ironically, in August 1962 this large store of lumber burned causing two million dollars in damage. The cause of the fire was never determined. The strike lasted a year and was frustrating and exhausting for everyone.

When the strike was over, Tony Flores, local union president at the time, noted that the union achieved its goals. Not long after the strike, the West Side mill itself was accidentally destroyed by fire, along with many of the associated buildings by a welder's torch during the removal of machinery. The West Side mill never reopened. The property was later sold and subsequent owners sold off the remaining railroad rolling stock.

Over the six decades of its existence, West Side (Pickering) cut and marked over two billion board feet of lumber. After the mill closed, the town's economy was severely impacted and many people left the area to find employment. In 1965 the Fibreboard Corporation acquired the West Side Property, when it bought the Pickering Lumber Company holdings. In turn, they sold it in 1976 to Glen Bell of the Taco Bell fame, which proposed a theme/amusement park for the site. The park opened before total completion, and then closed in 1982.

The property had been dormant for about 12 years since then and due to legal problems, there was a court-ordered foreclosure. In 2002 the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians purchased the property for gaming opportunities.

And the history of West Side Lumber Company continues to live on.

West Side Lumber Company historical photographs and artifacts are on display at the Tuolumne City Memorial Museum, located in Tuolumne, California.

(Source: Excerpts taken from the "Tuolumne Community Context Statement", County of Tuolumne, September 1999. Compiled by Mark V. Thornton, Charla Meacham Francis, Shelly David-King, Anne Bloomfield and Benjamin F. Ananian.)

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