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Documentary. Video presentation of reunion commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Woodfibre pulp mill. Includes a visit to the mill, a dinner/dance at the Squamish ice arena and an indoor sports day and picnic.

The fonds consists of records transferred to BC Archives by Western Forest Products Limited, and is divided into two series: MS-3216 - Predecessor companies, photographs, and, MS-1996 - Predecessor companies, textual records. The records were inherited by Western Forest Products Ltd. when it acquired the B.C. holdings of Rayonier Canada Limited in 1980. These inherited records therefore represent the activities of predecessors of Western Forest Products Ltd., including Rayonier Canada (B.C.) Limited, Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd., British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company Ltd., Alaska Pine Company Limited (later, Alaska Pine and Cellulose Ltd.) and Universal Lumber and Box Company Ltd., formerly Universal Box Company Ltd. The fonds includes the records of many other smaller predecessor companies dating back to the early 20th century. These companies were the early owners and operators of assets such as the pulp mills at Woodfibre and Port Alice, which passed to WFP in 1980.

It can be assumed these records were in the possession of Western Forest Products Ltd., whether used or not, in the period 1980 to 1985. It is also assumed that prior to that, they were in the possession of the immediate predecessor to WFP, Rayonier Canada (B.C). Limited.

BC Archives received two transfers of records at different times. In 1984, James Buttar, President, Western Forest Products Ltd., Vancouver, presented records (accession MS-1996). On its arrival at the archives this accession included photographs; these photographs and the textual records were then separated. Photographs were transferred to Visual Records accession 198403-001. The textual records received the series identification MS-1996.

On 1985-04-25, BC Archives received accession 89-1392, (originally accessioned as 85-041). These were donated by Ray Collins, Manager, Western Forest Products, Lost Lake Seed Orchard, Victoria.

In 2015, rearrangement was done by BC Archives. The textual records of accession MS-1996 and 89-1392 were combined in one series. This was done because of the common nature of the records (these textual materials all were donated by Western Forest Products Ltd., had been inherited by them, and were originally created by the same predecessor companies.

In the other aspect of the archival rearrangement, the nearly 600 photographs which had been separated from accession MS-1996, and had become Visual Records accession 198403-001, were re-integrated into the arrangement at the fonds level. They have not been re-merged with the textual records of MS-1996, but have been added as a new series, “Predecessor companies, photographs,” MS-3216.

The series consists of photographs which depict forest industry operations of the companies which were predecessors of Western Forest Products Ltd, dating back to the first decade of the 20th century. Most prevalent are photographs of the activities of the Alaska Pine group of companies in the 1940s and 1950s and Rayonier Canada (B.C.) Limited in the 1960s, companies that were active at Woodfibre, Port Alice, and numerous other locations. Other predecessors to these companies are also represented, including Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd. and British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company Ltd.

Other companies represented include: Empire Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd. at Swanson Bay; Canadian Puget Sound Lumber and Timber Company Limited at Jordan River; Western Forest Industries Ltd. at Honeymoon Bay; Alaska Pine Company Limited at New Westminster; and Universal Lumber and Box Company Limited at Vancouver.

The photographs were originally part of accession MS-1996, however at the time of their accession they were separated from the textual material. Consequently, some contextual information has been lost.

The fonds consists of annual reports, ledgers, reports of the safety committee, Resident Engineers daily diaries, daily mill reports, miscellaneous reports, photographs and maps and plans (of the pulp mill and other buildings at Woodfibre and of the townsite).

Series consists of Rayonier Canada's pulp mill at Woodfibre, B.C. and the adjacent company townsite and plans of residences, bunkhouses, cookhouses, community buildings, churchs and other facilities built by the company for its employees.

Records consist of They consist of financial records, namely ledgers, 1931-1951; annual reports, 1950-1960; a continuous set of authorizations for expenditure, 1920-1956; daily mill reports and tests of pulp, 1921-1935; Resident engineer's reports, 1964-1971; and various other reports. The large number of technical reports make this group of records interesting to those wishing to study the technical evolution of pulp mills.

In 1911, the British Columbia Sulphite Fibre Co. constructed a pulp mill at Woodfibre, B.C. The plant commenced operation in 1912. In 1917, ownership passed to Whalen Pulp and Paper Co., and in 1925 to British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company. Alaska Pine and Cellulose bought the mill in 1950, and, in 1958, it was taken over by Rayonier Canada. A consortium of three companies, namely British Columbia Forest Products, Whonnock Industries, and Doman Industries bought the mill in 1980, and it became known as the Squamish Mill. In 1983, the Squamish mill, together with the mill at Port Alice, was acquired by Western Pulp Limited Partnership.

Photographs associated with this grouping of records were transferred to Visual Records accession 198407-002; plans of the Woodfibre plant, townsite and community infrastructure, were transferred to the Map Accession M856003).

The series consists of miscellaneous photographs created and acquired by Rayonier Canada at the Woodfibre town and mill between 1928 and 1980. The photographs include black and white and colour prints, including Polaroids; black and white and colour negatives and colour slides. The photographs consist of views of Woodfibre town and include general and aerial views as well as interior shots of the grocery store and bowling alley, construction of the swimming pool and other miscellanoues views. The series also includes photographs of the Woodfibre mill, both interior and exterior shots showing many aspects of the mill operation. A notebook indexes many of the mill shots. Some of these prints have accompanying negatives which have been removed for cold storage. The majority of negatives are 35 mm rolls of film identified as rolls 1-29 and prints from these rolls may be seen in the related series MS-3047, albums 5 and 6.