Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company

Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company was a lumber products company with large sawmills and significant land holdings in Minnesota, Florida, British Columbia, and Central Oregon. The company was formed in 1901 with its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Beginning in 1915, its main lumber production facility was in Bend, Oregon. For many years, its Bend sawmill was one of the largest lumber producers in the world. In 1969, the company created Brooks Resources to broaden its business base beyond timber production. Brooks-Scanlon's Bend sawmill was closed in 1994. Today, Brooks Resources is the only vestige of the company that is still in business.

Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company
IndustryLumber products
PredecessorScanlon-Gipson Lumber Company
Founded1901
Defunct1994
Headquarters
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Founding

The Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company was formed in 1901 with its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The founding partners were Michael J. Scanlon, Anson S. Brooks, Dwight F. Brooks, Lester R. Brooks, and Henry E. Gibson. The firm was originally capitalized with $500,000. The partners later increased their capital investment to $1,750,000.[1][2][3][4]

Brooks-Scanlon’s first lumber production facility was located near Cloquet, Minnesota. A month after the company was formed, construction of a large sawmill at Cloquet began. The Cloquet mill opened late in 1901, ready for winter production. The mill processed approximately 600,000 board feet (1,400 m3) per day.[1][5][6]

The company quickly expanded its acquisition of standing timber to feed its mill operation.[7][8][9] By 1903, the Cloquet sawmill was cutting 100,000,000 board feet (240,000 m3) of lumber per year. At the same time, the company was expanding its railroad logging operations.[10]

Eventually, local timber resources became scarce and the company began looking for new timber resources outside Minnesota. The Brooks-Scanlon sawmill in Cloquet closed in 1909, after cutting 700,000,000 board feet (1,700,000 m3) of timber. That completely exhausted the supply of standing timber in the area around the mill. The company announced that the mill would be disassembled and shipped west.[1][11]

British Columbia and Florida

By 1906, adequate standing timber was hard to find in Minnesota, so Brooks-Scanlon began buying timber land in Florida, initially near Orlando. The company announced it planned to build a new sawmill in Florida, but did not give a target date for opening the mill. Two years later, the company began buying timber land in British Columbia as well.[12][13][14]

In 1909, the company announced it would build several sawmills along the Fraser River in British Columbia.[15] The company eventually selected a site near New Westminster, British Columbia, for its main milling operation.[16]

Over the next decade, the company continued to buy Florida timber land. Eventually, the company acquired 900,000 acres (3,600 km2) of virgin forest land in Florida.[17][18] By 1920, the company was the largest landowner in the state.[19]

In 1917, Brooks-Scanlon bought a sawmill in Eastport, near Jacksonville, Florida, to begin producing lumber for the New England construction market.[20] The company produced lumber at the Eastport sawmill for over a decade. However, the Eastport mill was closed in 1929 when the company’s milling operations were moved to Foley. The company built a large new sawmill in Foley along with an adjacent company town.[21][22]

By 1930, the Foley sawmill was the largest lumber production facility in Florida.[23] The company’s Florida operation continued to grow throughout the early 1930s.[24] In 1948, the company announced it would close its lumber production mill in Foley due to a lack of sufficient heavy timber to keep the mill running efficiently.[18]

In 1951, Brooks-Scanlon sold 440,000 acres (1,800 km2) of previously harvested Florida forest land to Buckeye Cellulose Corporation, a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble.[25][26] A month later, Foley Lumber Industries bought Brooks-Scanlon's Foley plant and some additional timber land with the intention of working with Buckeye Cellulose to build a pulp mill to utilize the second-growth timber available on the land previously owned by Brooks-Scanlon.[27]

Oregon operations

In 1911, Brooks-Scanlon began looking at timber resources in central Oregon.[28] In 1915, the company purchased large tracts of timber land in central Oregon, near Bend. The following year, Brooks-Scanlon opened a sawmill on the east bank of the Deschutes River on the outskirts of Bend. Directly across the river from the Brooks-Scanlon mill was the Shevlin-Hixon sawmill, a major competitor that opened a month before the Brooks-Scanlon mill began operating. When it began sawmill operations, Brooks-Scanlon owned 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) of timber land south and east of Bend, while Shevlin-Hixon owned 215,000 acres (870 km2) including parcels along 70 miles (110 km) on both sides of the Deschutes River. Within a year of opening, the Brooks-Scanlon and Shevlin-Hixon sawmills were the two largest producers of pine lumber in the world.[29][30][31]

In 1922, Brooks-Scanlon built a second lumber production facility upstream from the company's original sawmill. The new sawmill complex was known as Mill B. The new production complex was much larger that the original Mill A facility. When the new sawmill was fully operational, Brooks-Scanlon was cutting lumber around the clock with more than 2,000 workers on the company's payroll.[32]

Brooks-Scanlon railroad logging near Bend

By 1930, the Brooks-Scanlon sawmill was running three shifts a day, which kept the sawmill operating around the clock. At their peak, the Brooks-Scanlon and Shevlin-Hixon sawmills were producing over 500,000,000 board feet (1,200,000 m3) of lumber per year.[33][34] Over the next several decades, Brooks-Scanlon bought large tracts of central Oregon timber land from Shevlin-Hixon and other forest land owners.[35][36]

In the late 1930s and 1940s, Brooks-Scanlon began buying standing timber from the United States Forest Service to supplement the harvest taken from the company’s timber land.[37][38][39] The company also significantly expanded its railroad logging north and west of Bend. Previously, its railroad logging operations were used primarily for harvesting timber lands south of Bend. [40][41]

In 1950, Brooks-Scanlon bought the neighboring Shevlin-Hixon sawmill. The acquisition included the Shevlin-Hixon sawmill and adjacent property, all of its railroad and logging equipment, and large tracts of central Oregon timber lands along with the associated water rights.[34][42][43] The Shevlin-Hixon sawmill was closed at the end of 1950.[29][44] In the 1950s, Brooks-Scanlon kept its Bend sawmill producing lumber with timber purchased from the United States Forest Service in auctions administered by the Deschutes National Forest.[45][46][47]

In 1969, Brooks-Scanlon created a subsidiary corporation called Brooks Resources. The new company was created to develop Brooks-Scanlon property for uses other than timber production. In 1979, Brooks Resources was officially separated from the Brooks-Scanlon company.[48][49][50] Two years later, Brooks-Scanlon was purchased by Diamond International corporation.[51] In the late 1980s, the company was sold to the newly formed Crown Pacific Partners. The former Brooks-Scanlon sawmill continued producing lumber until 1994, when the Bend mill was finally closed due to diminished timber supply in the area.[29][34]

Legacy
Old Mill District on Brooks-Scanlon mill site

Today, the Brooks-Scanlon sawmill site has been redeveloped into the Old Mill District, a commercial and retail area on the banks of the Deschutes River in Bend. Brooks-Scanlon's Mill A building is now an office complex. The Mill A powerhouse and burner foundations are now a public patio, filled with flowers in the summer. In addition, the Mill B powerhouse is the home of an outdoor sports retail business.[52]

Brooks-Scanlon began working with the Bend community on park and recreation programs in the 1920s when the company donated 1,000 acres (400 ha) to the City of Bend to establish Shevlin Park. Today, Shevlin Park is still an important part of Bend’s park network.[53][54]

The Bend Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company in 1947 to help injured loggers and sawmill workers. Today, Brooks-Scanlon's offshoot, Brooks Resources, remains a major contributor to the Foundation which currently supports a wide range of community institutions and philanthropic programs throughout central Oregon. The Foundation funds scholarships, public artwork, and a wide variety of other community programs and environmental projects.[29][55][56]

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References
  1. "Michael J. Scanlon", American Lumbermen: The Personal History and Public and Business Achievements (Volume 2), American Lumbermen, Chicago, 1906, Illinois, pp. 83, 86–87.
  2. Drobney, Jeffrey A., Lumbermen and Log Sawyers: Life, Labor, and Culture in the North Florida Timber Industry, 1830–1930, Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia, 1997, p. 55.
  3. "Build New Lumber Mill", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 30 January 1901, p. 7.(subscription required)
  4. "Increase Capital", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 23 November 1903, p. 8.(subscription required)
  5. "Work on New Mill Commenced", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 20 February 1901, p. 12.(subscription required)
  6. "All Winter Sawing", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 23 November 1901, p. 3.(subscription required)
  7. "Minnesota", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 10 January 1902, p. 3.(subscription required)
  8. "Dunn Sells Timber", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 12 November 1902, p. 6.(subscription required)
  9. "A $1,000,000 Deal", Minneapolis Journal], Minneapolis, Minnesota, 4 November 1905, p. 7.(subscription required)
  10. "Great Year for Logging", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 14 February 1903, p. 15.(subscription required)
  11. "Scanlon Mill Closes", Virginia Enterprise, Viginia, Minnesota, 13 April 1909, p.87.(subscription required)
  12. "Buys Florida Timber", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 29 May 1906, p. 7.(subscription required)
  13. "Still Another Big Timber Deal", The Province, Vancouver, British Columbia, 24 July 1908, p. 1.(subscription required)
  14. "American Capital in B.C.", Victoria Daily Times, Victoria, British Columbia, 27 July 1908, p. 10.(subscription required)
  15. "Seeking Site for Mill on Fraser", Victoria Daily Times, Victoria, British Columbia, 23 April 1909, p. 4.(subscription required)
  16. "Brooks-Scanlon Firm to Build Sawmill", The Province, Victoria, British Columbia, 5 May 1909, p. 2.(subscription required)
  17. "Buys Florida Timber", Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 29 May 1906, p. 7.(subscription required)
  18. Wilder, Paul, "Biggest Sawmill to Close; Pulp Mill May Replace It", Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, 25 February 1948, p. 1, 8.(subscription required)
  19. "Paper Making in Florida", Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, 27 July 1920, p. 4.(subscription required)
  20. "Paper Making in Florida", Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, 7 November 1917, p. 6.(subscription required)
  21. "To Move Town of 3000 People", Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, Florida, 20 February 1929, p. 1.(subscription required)
  22. "Paper Making in Florida", Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, Florida, 12 December 1929, p. 4.(subscription required)
  23. "Well Known in Florida", Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, 4 October 1930, p. 4.(subscription required)
  24. "Sideglances at Florida", Fort Lauderdale News, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 30 September 1933, p. 4.(subscription required)
  25. "Lumber Work to Continue in Foley", Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Florida, 21 September 1951, p. 14.(subscription required)
  26. "Taylor Group Backs Plans for Big Plant", Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, Florida, 21 September 1951, p. 1.(subscription required)
  27. "Lumber Work to Continue in Foley", Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, Florida, 28 October 1951, p. 8.(subscription required)
  28. "Settlers File on 300,000 Acres at Bend in Half Year", Oregon Daily Journal, Portland, Oregon, 21 May 1911, p. 5.(subscription required)
  29. Nokes, R. Gregory, "Mill Town to Boom Town", Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, 1 September 2002, p. A19.(subscription required)
  30. "500-Man Mill is Promised Bend", Eugene Guard, Eugene, Oregon, 18 August 1915, p. 5.(subscription required)
  31. "Brooks Resources Corporation and the Story of Bend, Oregon," Building Community Since 1969, Brooks Resources Corporation, Bend, Oregon, 2019, pp. 6–7.
  32. "History of Bend’s Old Mill District – Our Story", Old Mill District, www.oldmilldistrict.com, Bend, Oregon, accessed 25 June 2019.
  33. "Brooks-Scanlon Mill is Running Three Shifts", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 22 January 1930, p. 5.(subscription required)
  34. Binus, Joshua, "Shevlin-Hixon and Brooks-Scanlon Mills, Bend", Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, 2005.
  35. "Timber Sale Pending Here", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 28 September 1917, p. 1.(subscription required)
  36. "Brooks-Scanlon Buys Mrs Well's Timber", Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, 3 July 1939, p. 7.(subscription required)
  37. "Brooks-Scanlon Buys Indian Butte Timber", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 12 June 1939, p. 1.(subscription required)
  38. "Minto Pass Burn Timber is Sold", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 11 January 1946, p. 1.(subscription required)
  39. "Stumpage Sells for $25 per 1000 Ft", Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon, 5 September 1947, p. 1.(subscription required)
  40. "1940 Big Year for Midstate", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 24 September 1940, p. 44.(subscription required)
  41. "Railroad Steel Spans Highway", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 16 April 1946, p. 5.(subscription required)
  42. "Shevlin-Hixon Sells to Brooks Scanlon", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 21 November 1950, p. 1.(subscription required)
  43. "Shevlin-Hixon Sale Recorded in 2 Counties", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 19 December 1950, p. 1.(subscription required)
  44. "Cutting Last Shevlin-Hixon Log Done in Dramatic Setting", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 26 December 1950, p. 1.(subscription required)
  45. "Record Price for Deschutes National Forest Pine Paid by Brooks-Scanlon at Sale", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 11 August 1950, p. 1.(subscription required)
  46. "Brooks-Scanlon Makes High Bid", Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 8 May 1952, p. 1.(subscription required)
  47. "Brooks-Scanlon Purchase Big Tract", Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, 29 October 1954, p. 5.(subscription required)
  48. "Mike Hollern's Influence is Everywhere in Bend, and He’s Not Done Yet", Bend Magazine, Bend, Oregon, 16 September 2015.
  49. "Subsidiary to Become Corporation", Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon, 7 May 1979, p. 10.(subscription required)
  50. "IRS to Allow Firm Spinoff", Albany Democrat-Herald, Albany, Oregon, 9 May 1979, p. 15.(subscription required)
  51. "Timber Firm Merger Becomes Official", Albany Democrat-Herald, Albany, Oregon, 18 June 1980, p. 11.(subscription required)
  52. "Shelvin-Hixon and Brooks-Scanlon Mills", Old Mill District, www.oldmilldistrict.com, Bend, Oregon, accessed 25 June 2019.
  53. "Park and Recreation honors for Bend facilities and Brooks Resources", Bend Parks and Recreation District, Bend, Oregon, 20 November 2017.
  54. "Shevlin Park", Bend Parks and Recreation District, Bend, Oregon, 23 June 2017.
  55. "Public-art Committee in Bend Draws Critics", Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon, 22 November 2002, p. 23.(subscription required)
  56. "Giving Back", Building Community Since 1969, Brooks Resources Corporation, Bend, Oregon, 2019, p. 18.
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