Forest History and Archives

The Canadian Western Lumber Company Limited was one of the largest mills and private owners of timber holdings in the Pacific Northwest, tracing its origins back to 1889. In 1954, the company was acquired by Zellerbach Canada Limited, and is today owned by Norse Skog Canada Limited. The fonds contains agreements and other documents relating to the organization and development of the company and its predecessors, subsidiaries, and successors, including financial records, personnel records, photographs, slides and timber records.

The fonds consists of a photograph album depicting Capilano Timber Company operations, including loggers, logging camps, and views of the Capilano Valley and the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

The Hastings Saw Mill was opened in 1867 by the B.C. and Vancouver Island Spar Lumber and Saw Mill Company on Burrard Inlet. Captain Edward Stamp operated the mill until 1869 when it was sold. The new owners, Heatley & Company of London, secured the services of Captain R.A. Raymur to manage the operation. The Mill was guided in turn by Richard H. Alexander, John Hendry and Eric Humber until 1928 when the property was sold to the National Harbours Board. The fonds consists of correspondence (1865-1888), an 1890 memo, one map, one photograph of B.C. Mills, Timber and Trading Company's Hastings Sawmill, five plans and articles of association.

Lamb Lumber Company Ltd. was incorporated in Vancouver in 1912 and was liquidated in 1960. Thomas A. Lamb and family owned and operated the company throughout its life. The fonds consists of two minute books for the Lamb Lumber Company, 1912-1960, and one minute book for the Lamb Investment Company, 1928-1963.

The Canadian White Pine Division of MacMillan Bloedel Limited, located on the Fraser River in Vancouver, is one of the oldest mills on the West Coast and was the first sawmill owned and operated by the H.R. MacMillan Export Co., the predecessor company to MacMillan Bloedel Limited. The portion of the mill known as "B" Mill was originally built in 1923 as Dominion Mills and was purchased by H.R. MacMillan Export Co. in 1935. Like other large sawmills on the West Coast, the mill first produced Douglas Fir lumber in lengths up to 40 feet. Today the plant produces only Western Red Cedar, both rough and finished, for domestic and foreign markets. The Canadian White Pine Mill became part of Weyerhaeuser operations as part of that company's takeover of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. in 1999.

MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. traces its roots in B.C. to 1911 with the establishment of Bloedel, Stewart & Welch. In 1919, Harvey MacMillan, along with W.J. VanDusen, established the H.R. MacMillan Export Company. Ltd. to sell British Columbia lumber on the world market. In 1951, the two companies joined to form MacMillan & Bloedel Ltd. The merger made the company one of the largest firms in the world engaged in both the production and sale of lumber. The 1960 amalgamation with the Powell River Company made the newly formed MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River Company one of North America's largest producers of newsprint. The fonds includes over 150 metres of textual records, over 500 maps and plans, and over 20,000 photographs, as well as other audio-visual material, including slides and films.

Contains photographs and annual reports related to MacMillan Bloedel Limited, collected by Ralph Shaw Sr., who was an employee at the company.

A subsidiary of the Associated Timber Exporters of British Columbia, Ltd. (Astexo)., Seaboard Lumber Sales Company was formed in 1928 to market British Columbia lumber on the international market, and later established the Seaboard Shipping Company to transport the lumber. The fonds includes 3.5 metres of textual records and over 600 photographs which document the corporate history of Seaboard Lumber and Shipping Company.

The fonds consists of documents, photographs, and artifacts pertaining to the operations of a succession of sawmills and wood manufacturing plants founded by Stanley Merriam Simpson (b. 10 August 1886, d. 20 March 1959) and assumed by his son, Horace B. Simpson (b. 17 March 1917, d. 8 September 1994) in the Okanagan area. In total the fonds comprises approximately 2500 photographs, in various forms. Records provide documentation of legal proceedings, finances, substantial mill operations, safety initiatives, administration, civic engagement, publicity, and labour relations relating to mill business. Artifacts include wooden fruit boxes/baskets, a mill whistle, souvenir pencil, thermometer, plywood samples, ceremonial key, plaques, sawmill blade clock.

The Victoria Lumber and Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1889. The company's mill was constructed in Chemainus and became one of the largest on the West Coast. Although suffering during the depression in the early 1890s, the mill generated 100 million feet of lumber per year by 1896. The mill burned down in 1923 but was rebuilt. It ceased operations in 1950. The fonds includes 20 cm of records containing the annual reports for the company from 1906 to 1950.

Western Forest Products Incorporated is a major harvesting and lumber manufacturing company operating in the coastal regions of British Columbia. In 1980, a joint venture of three B.C.-based companies, Doman Industries Ltd., Whonnock Industries Ltd., and British Columbia Forest Products Ltd. acquired the B.C. holdings of Rayonier Canada Limited. The three companies, with equal shares, organized Western Forest Products Limited (WFP) as the purchaser. As of 2016, Western Forest Products consists of acquisitions from a variety of other forestry companies such as MacMillan Bloedel, Weyerhaeuser, Canadian Pacific, and Canfor.The principal activities conducted by WFP and its subsidiaries include timber harvesting, reforestation, sawmilling logs into lumber and wood chips, and value-added remanufacturing. The collection reflects the forestry operations and projects undertaken by Western Forest Products and their predecessors. The majority of the material dates to the 1980s, with some material dating to as early as the 1950s and as late as the early 2000s. Much of the contents relates to MacMillan Bloedel Limited, in particular their tree farm licenses (TFLs), silvicultural practices, and some corporate information.