History at Sekiu
Clallam County, Washington
This scene, probably photographed in the late 1940's, shows the Rayonier railroad
log dump piers that were once located along the waterfront at Sekiu, when log booming
was done in the bay. Rayonier acquired this railroad from Bloedel-Donovan in 1945. An
interesting backstory is that three Seattle entrepreneurs, D. A. Robinson, S. M. Irwin
and D. E. Frederick (founder of Frederick & Nelson, Inc.?), on August 11, 1902
incorporated the Clallam Bay Southern Railway, which was to be built beginning from
Clallam Bay and up the Clallam River. That company had only one known steam locomotive,
which they had ordered and built in 1903. That locomotive was Clallam Bay Southern Ry.
No. 1, a Class B 2-truck Shay, built by Lima Locomotive & Machine Company in
August, 1903 (c/n 830). In 1914, the Goodyear Logging Company, owned by the C. A.
Goodyear Lumber Company, began constructing a logging railroad from West Clallam (now
Sekiu). The Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Mills Company bought out the local holdings of the
Goodyear Logging Company in October, 1923. Thirty years after the Clallam Bay Southern
Railway was incorporated, the Bloedel-Donovan main line became the similarly named but
separate Clallam Bay & Southern Railway, which was organized on December 28, 1932
to take over and operate the main line operations of the Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Mills
Company. The Clallam Bay & Southern Railway Company had the same directors as the
Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Mills Company.
This scene, photographed in 1947, shows the
Rayonier railroad tracks that
ran along the edge of the beach, adjacent to Front Street, in the old business district
of Sekiu. The two-story building with the flat roof, about midway down the block, was
the C-Q Cafe.
This scene, probably photographed in the late 1940's, shows the railroad shops
located near the foot of the long railroad log dump pier in Sekiu. The buildings
are also visible in the aerial photograph at the top of the page.
This scene, probably photographed in the 1930's, shows an old planked mooring
float for fishing boats. The Bloedel-Donovan log booming area is also visible off
in the distance.
This scene, photographed the same day as the previous scene, shows the same
planked mooring float, but viewed from beyond the end of the driftwood log visible
in both photographs. The Three Sisters marine rock formation is also visible off
in the distance.
This scene, photographed the same day as the previous two scenes, shows a close up
view of the Three Sisters marine rock formation. It was at Sekiu, according to
local legend, that three sisters were transformed into these three rock
formations.
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Andrew Craig Magnuson
Forks, Washington
October 10, 2005
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