Wednesday, December 8, 2010

PAST EVENTS BUILT UPON WOOD

By Dean Ellis


The story of how Hoquiam WA made its name today bring back history when it was still a dense forest and so rich in natural resources. The vast forest of this small town was its main asset that made this place a very progressive one without jeopardizing the beauty of Mother Earth. That is how protective the people are in this place. It is because they were part and parcel in making this small town a better place to live.

It is said that the early settlers of this place were the native Indians. They named the place Hoquiam meaning 'hungry for wood' because of its vast forest wherein the river itself was also named the Hoquiam River. The fine woods of this place became one of their major sources of living hence most of the people in this place became lumberjacks.

The story of the people of Hoquiam caught the attention of many tourists who came to the small town had great admiration of how this little city came to existence. It is a fact that the events that was set by the people of the small towns to commemorate the golden days of their people and at the same to attract tourists which added to their income.

One of the big capitalists was Robert and Joseph Lytle who had established the the minute town Lumber and Shingle Company in 1902. They became the worlds largest cedar shingle manufacturing company in 1906. The following year then added to more employment to the populace when another lumber concession was established namely the Grays Harbor Lumber Company where they became the main supplier of lumber purposely for the railroad projects of the Northern Railroad Company.

The Polson's Family was one among those who became more powerful in this venture. They have put up two (2) sawmills and one (1) shingle mill. In fact, they had built 2 grand mansions in the area one of which was preserved as the Polson museum and was made as National Registries Historical Place. The Polson's likewise had acquired 2o logging camps and construction camps, 100 miles of railroad and a vast series of valuable logging equipments than can produce 300 million feet of logs every year. Alex Polson then made this small town his home since then. Soaring high in the lumber and logging business, they expanded further in real estate business.

In 1891, the lumber barons came into an agreement to merge their logging business between the Lytle Brothers and the Polson Brothers Logging Company. After twelve consecutive years, Merrill and Ring Corporation also affiliated with them making a one big powerful logging concession in the name of Polson Logging Company.

The Polson's Family then became the most powerful lumber magnate in this small town and Grays Harbor region. Despite of this, there were still other 300 separate individuals who still did the same business massively. This simply means that the forest of this small town was more than enough for the people to have a more decent livelihood which they owed so much from its rich forest.

New edifices may be developed like malls and restaurants, coffee shops, gaming arcade for the kids and anything that modern technology can offer. These are some of the renovations that must be considered. At the end of the day after attending those festivals in town, the people can proceed to these places to enjoy and talk about the past events they had attended and enjoyed giving more homely ambiance for everybody not only the tourists but also the rest of the populace who also wanted to enjoy after a hard days work or during weekends.




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