History of the Lake Whatcom Logging Company

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The Lake Whatcom Logging Company was established in 1898 by Julius Bloedel, Peter Larson, and John Joseph Donovan. Each man invested $2,000 cash in the company.

The company bought all the timberland on the west side of Lake Whatcom, from Geneva to South Bay, and over the mountains towards Fairhaven. This amounted to 3,600 acres of timber!

The Lake Whatcom Logging Company started its operations with 18 men and one horse named Queen.

The company owned two steam donkey engines that were used to haul the logs.

Logging was begun at South Bay, where Camp #1 was established.

After logging was finished at South Bay, the camp was moved to Alger, which became Camp#2. Two and a half miles of logging railroad were built to connect Camp#2 with the log dump at Anderson s Landing in Park.

After setting up Camp #2, the Lake Whatcom Logging Company purchased 10,000 more acres of timberland, between South Bay and Alger. The company continued to purchase land until it controlled practically all the best timber in the area.

Within twenty or thirty years the Lake Whatcom Logging Company had 1400 loggers in the woods living in six camps.

It employed another 1600 men in four sawmills, three planing mills, three shingle mills, a sash and door factory, and a box manufacturing plant. 

Two of the partners, Bloedel and Donovan, bought out Larson’s part of the company. From that point on, the company became the Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Company. It became huge, with mills and camps all over western Washington and British Columbia.

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Image Credit: Microsoft ClipArt Gallery.

Map created by Janet Oakley, local historian, and Jan Frank, Library Media Specialist.

Photos and linked photos on this page are courtesy of the Galen Biery Historical Collection and the

Whatcom Museum of History and Art.