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Only top-level descriptions Fonds Company towns--British Columbia
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Western Pulp Ltd. Partnership fonds

  • PR-2326
  • Fonds
  • 1910-2006; predominant 1963-1999

The fonds consists of the records of Western Pulp Ltd. Partnership, mainly pertaining to the company’s Woodfibre pulp mill near Squamish, B.C. A very small number are records (mainly photographs) which pertain to the company’s pulp mill at Port Alice on northern Vancouver Island.

Most of the records date from after 1983, the year Western Pulp Ltd. Partnership was formed. However the fonds also consists of pre-1983 records which were inherited from the previous owners of the Woodfibre and Port Alice operations. Of the pre-1983 records, the majority date from the 1960s and were created by Rayonier Canada Limited.

A mill had been in operation at Woodfibre since 1912, when the British Columbia Sulphite Fibre Company Ltd. began pulp production at Mill Creek (the community was renamed Woodfibre in 1921). In 1917 ownership of the mill passed to Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd., who, in the same year, began operations at Port Alice. In 1925, these assets were purchased by the British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company Ltd., who operated the mills until 1951. At that time, the Alaska Pine Company Ltd. (owned by the Koerner family of Vancouver) joined Toronto-based Abitibi Power and Paper Company Ltd. to purchase the British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company Ltd. When the purchase was completed the combined properties of Alaska Pine Company Ltd. and the British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company Ltd. were merged. On April 25, 1951 the British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company Ltd. became Alaska Pine and Cellulose Ltd., with ownership split between the Koerner interests and Abitibi. This company now owned the pulp mills at Woodfibre and Port Alice, and employed 4,950.

In 1954 the Koerners sold their controlling interest in Alaska Pine and Cellulose Ltd. to Rayonier Inc. of New York. Alaska Pine and Cellulose Ltd. continued, now controlled by Rayonier. By 1959 Rayonier had purchased the balance of the stock, and on September 16, 1959 the Alaska Pine and Cellulose Ltd. name was changed to Rayonier Canada Limited. A second company, Rayonier B.C. Limited, was also incorporated, and in 1961 the name of that company was changed to Rayonier Canada (B.C.) Limited., who owned and operated the pulp mills until 1980.

Under Rayonier, in the 1960s, the houses in the Woodfibre townsite were demolished and families moved to Squamish and other Howe Sound communities.

It is not possible to state with certainty the function and activities which generated the records. However, a very large proportion of the records are photographs of construction projects in the mid-1980s; it appears the company intended to document the major mill modernization program of that period at Woodfibre.

In the pre-1983, inherited records, there is a particular emphasis on water-related subject matter. This includes: water supply, water licenses, water power, storage and water system infrastructure, dams, and water and precipitation data recording. Other significant subject matter of the pre-1983 records includes the mill’s appraised value and viability, property and land surveys, and historical writing about Woodfibre.

The archivist did not discover any original classification system. The archivist established artificial series based on: (1) whether the records were created by the company after 1983, or whether they were created by predecessor companies before 1983; and (2) the type of physical form and the creator’s rough organization. For example, the creator assembled most of the photographs generally in chronological order, mounted in photo albums.

The fonds consists of the following series:
MS-3129 - Photographs -- 1981-[2000?]; predominant 1984-1986
MS-3130 - Predecessor companies, office files -- 1910-2001; predominant ca. 1935-1983
MS-3131 - Office files -- 1988-2006
MS-3136 - Rayonier Canada Limited photographs -- [ca. 1963-1966]

Photographs are the predominant documentary form, including prints, negatives and 35mm slides. To a lesser degree, the fonds includes textual material, maps, plans, diagrams, and technical drawings. In the textual records, reports and studies (for example, by engineers and appraisers) are prominent. There are also company annual reports, year-end reviews, company newsletters and collected publications. There is a relatively small amount of correspondence and memoranda.

Note that by 2004, the term “Partnership” no longer appears in the company title, and the term “Woodfibre” was not officially used; therefore, records may refer to “Western Pulp Limited -- Squamish Operation” (or “Squamish Division”).

Western Pulp Ltd. Partnership

Western Forest Industries Ltd. fonds

  • PR-0125
  • Fonds
  • [ca. 1900-1983]; predominant 1949-1981

The fonds consists of company business records which relate to the full range of its activities in logging, lumber and shingle production, and marketing of its products. Most of the records concern the plant at Honeymoon Bay, the logging camp at Gordon River, and the facilities and residences built for employees at those locations.

The fonds includes records of predecessor companies (records created prior to the founding of Western Forest Industries Ltd. in 1946). It also consists of records of the companies that had majority ownership of Western Forest Industries Ltd., including Alaska Pine and Cellulose Ltd. and Rayonier Canada (B.C.) Limited, (and the owner of the latter, after 1968, ITT Rayonier Incorporated).

The fonds consists of general office files, in four different series, dating primarily from ca. 1949 to 1981. These records were created by the following departments and offices: the manager, accounting, sales and production co-ordinator, boom department, powerhouse, forestry/engineering, electrical, logging division, mill superintendent, and personnel.

The fonds also consists of technical and architectural drawings, blueprints, maps and plans; these are in two different series: CM/ES4 and MS-1333.K. Most of the maps and plans relate to land, timber holdings, and logging and forestry issues. The technical drawings and blueprints relate to mills and mill equipment, and to buildings and facilities for the worker communities at Honeymoon Bay and Gordon River. Some of the maps, plans and drawings were created by predecessor companies prior to 1946.

The fonds also consists of ca. 900 photographs (colour and black & white), including prints, slides, and negatives. (Many of the latter are undeveloped). The images include the Honeymoon Bay plant, townsite and environs, workers, equipment and logging locations.

The fonds consists of the following series:
CM/ES4 - Western Forest Industries Ltd. plans and maps series [multimedia]
MS-1333 - Western Forest Industries Ltd. records
MS-2182 - Office files
MS-2187 - Sales and production coordinator office files
MS-3137 - Administrative office files

The following items are not attached to a series:
AAAA1582 Cowichan Valley logging and milling, which consists of unedited film footage of logging and sawmilling operations, ca. 1963;
G-03160 Western Forest Industries mill at Honeymoon Bay (1 photograph); and,
G-03161 Lake Cowichan, Climax locomotive No. 10 (1 photograph).

Western Forest Industries Ltd.

Rayonier Canada, Woodfibre Division fonds

  • PR-0468
  • Fonds
  • 1917-1976

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).

Rayonier Canada (B.C.) Limited

Edward Davidson McRae fonds

  • PR-2179
  • Fonds
  • [1969?]-1970

The fonds consists of a typescript of McRae's M.B.A. thesis, as well as photographs and film footage documenting some of the company towns he visited as part of his research.

McRae, Edward Davidson

Jack Woo fonds

  • PR-0049
  • Fonds
  • 1949-1966

The fonds consists of Jack Woo's photographs depicting views of Port Alice including interior and exterior views of the mill, aerial views of the town and portraits of individuals and groups and community events and activities. The photographs were taken between 1949 and 1966. The fonds also includes a file of correspondence between Woo and various companies wanting copies of his photographs..

Woo, Jack

Gordon Dubberley fonds

  • PR-1009
  • Fonds
  • 1948-1958

The fonds consists of Gordon Dubberley's photographs of the wood processing plant, of employees, and of community activities at Woodfibre, B.C. The photographs were taken between 1948 and 1958.

Dubberley, Gordon

Browning family fonds

  • PR-1776
  • Fonds
  • 1926-1941

The fonds consists of amateur film footage shot by Carleton P. Browning, the manager of the Britannia Mine. The footage mainly documents community life at Britannia Beach, BC, including May Day and Dominion Day celebrations, picnics, skating parties, and other recreational activities. There is also considerable footage devoted to the Browning family and their friends. A reel entitled "Industrial Britannia" (192-) depicts various aspects of the mine operation. Another reel, "PGE Quesnel Cariboo Mines" (1933) shows various mining operations and communities in the Cariboo Region. The fonds as a whole provides an interesting glimpse into the life of a self-contained mining community during the Depression.

Browning (family)

British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company fonds

  • PR-1127
  • Fonds
  • [193-]

The fonds consists of 28 black and white photographs of the British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company's Woodfibre Pulp Mill, taken sometime in the 1930's. The photographs were pasted into an album and were given captions. The images include general shots of the Woodfibre area and town as well as interior mill photographs.

British Columbia Pulp and Paper Company Ltd.