EVERETT — While an ancient pair of three-story-high machines at Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s waterfront plant rumbled onward, employees paused Wednesday to mark the tissue mill’s 50th anniversary.
During this week in 1954, the Scott Paper Co. officially opened its first West Coast plant in Everett, an event that was celebrated citywide.
The tissue mill was considered a fine addition to the group of mills that brought Everett the nickname "City of Smokestacks."
Not many of those other mills exist today, but the tissue plant still turns out more than 200,000 tons of bath tissue, napkins and other paper products each year, part of a round-the-clock operation that employs 550 people.
"This one has a lot of history to it; a lot of ups and downs," said Scott Helker, manager of the Everett plant.
Wednesday’s anniversary was an occasion for a few speeches, some cake and a tour of the mill for guests. They saw the two gigantic machines that made up the plant’s original production lines and are still in operation.
The No. 1 machine produces toilet paper exclusively for sale at Costco. The second original production line makes a mix of Scott brand bath tissue, and bath tissue and napkins for Costco’s brand.
Both machines take paper pulp, which is mixed with water in huge vats, and turn it into large rolls of uncut toilet paper. Combined, they produce 150 to 200 tons of toilet paper each day, said Gary Wright of Snohomish, who oversees the two machines.
Mark Warren of Sedro-Woolley, who works on the No. 1 production line, said the original tissue machines keep up despite their age.
"They run real good for 50-year-old machines," Warren said. "A little more maintenance than some, but they run very well."
After the paper is produced, it is put through winding machines, which spin it onto long versions of the cardboard tubes found inside every roll of bath tissue. The long rolls are cut into individual-sized rolls and packaged in various ways for the consumer market.
Three newer production lines in the tissue mill also make Viva paper towels and a range of other towel and napkin products.
The pulp and paper mill complex on W. Marine View Drive got its start in the late 1920s when Puget Sound Pulp &Timber began building the first pulp mill there. Soundview Pulp Co. took over and expanded the mill until Scott Paper bought Soundview in 1951.
Shortly afterward, Scott Paper began constructing the tissue mill. By December 1953, the first tissue machine was switched on, making its first acceptable roll of Soft-Weve bath tissue on Dec. 16. That first roll is enshrined in a display at the plant.
Though the second production line didn’t start up until summer 1954, Everett celebrated Scott Paper Week in February to welcome the new mill.
"The company’s new paper mill, construction of which began early in 1952, is considered to be one of the most modern of its kind in the world," The Everett Herald reported in 1954. The paper also commented on the mill’s decor and interior: "Complete with harmonious color effects and recessed lighting in the high ceilings and adjacent areas, the mill is equipped with comfortable lounges, rest rooms, locker-room and shower facilities for men and women. Ample space is also provided for offices and storage areas."
U.M. Dickey, the former president of Soundview who became a senior vice president with Scott, spoke at mill’s opening.
"This event marks the culmination of our dream of many years for an integration of pulp and papermaking operations in the manufacture of high-quality products," Dickey said. "It is also a forward step in the industrial development of the Pacific Northwest, which is today moving at an accelerated pace."
Though Kimberly-Clark took over Scott Paper in 1995, the Scott brand still lives. The Everett plant, one of two Kimberly-Clark tissue mills on the West Coast, makes 15 percent of the Scott bath tissue sold in the nation. It also makes more than 40 percent of the toilet paper Costco sells nationally.
Samantha Graziadio of Redmond, who was named "chief common sense officer" by the Scott brand in a promotional contest, came away impressed by the scale of the Everett tissue mill after touring it Wednesday.
"I just thought it was amazing," she said after staring for some time into the big pulp mixers at the beginning of the production lines.
Pointing to Kimberly-Clark’s substantial investment over the past several years to modernize the tissue plant, Helker said he’s proud of the mill’s place on Everett’s waterfront and in its history.
"This community’s been very supportive historically of this operation, and it continues to be," he said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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