Pope & Talbot going down, just heard from friends on the island, nothing coming out of stacks at Harmac, nobody there but security guards ... stock is no longer pop.nyse, it's ptbt.pk, trading at two cents ... so this history page may not be up much longer, might as well paste it in -
poptal.com
'Beginnings... The Gold Rush.
The growth and development of the American West is tied to people like the resourceful, visionary and daring founders of Pope & Talbot. Over 150 years ago, Andrew Jackson Pope and Frederic Talbot left their homes in East Machias, Maine to brave a dangerous 171-day journey around the horn because they saw in the rough rawness of Gold Rush-era San Francisco, opportunity for untapped new business. Demand for supplies being shipped in to serve the steady stream of newcomers was increasing; catastrophic fires had prompted major rebuilding of the town, and lumber was a precious commodity. Coming from successful New England shipping and lumber families, the two lost no time in seizing the moment.
Almost immediately upon arriving in the muddy, slap-dash frontier boom-town in December in 1849, they and their two partners J.P. Keller and Lucius Sanborn launched a barging business with one long boat, to meet the rapidly growing demand in San Francisco bay. Within weeks they had expanded their "fleet" and soon began a business brokering lumber from home. It did so well, they established their own sawmill in the Puget Sound area of what is now Washington State.
In December of 1852, the newly formed Puget Mill Company settled on a spot later called Port Gamble and within a few years, became the dominant lumber company on the sound. By 1881, they owned four sawmills, 150 thousand acres of magnificent timberlands, 19 cargo/lumber ships and lands in Maine, San Francisco, Oregon and the Washington Territory. Within ten years they formed six additional companies dealing in lumber, shipping, trading and other related aspects of their business.
Development...The Railroad Era.
Railroads crisscrossing the nation ushered in another era of expansion for Pope & Talbot. The company sent lumber by rail east to depleted timber areas in the mid-west; and shipped the grain they brought back to growing markets in the Orient. Added to this was the urgent demand for lumber to meet the sudden growth of California and San Francisco's rebuilding after the calamitous earthquake and fire in 1906. This period of prosperity continued until coming to an abrupt end with the securities market crash in 1907.
Impasse... World War I and the Great Depression.
The failure of the securities market in October of 1907 signaled a pivotal point in the company's history. Overzealous lumbermen had flooded the San Francisco market with more lumber than it could possibly use and prices plummeted. The newly created Washington land taxes rose to shocking heights within two years and the company's timberlands became a liability. Shrewd compromises and tenacity helped the company bridge the slump through measured liquidation of some assets over time.
The period from 1910 to 1925 saw the company's forward momentum continue to falter. An attempt to reduce the cost of logs by establishing their own logging camps never really paid off. Ventures into real estate development suffered limited success following a sharp peacetime housing drop-off after World War I. More problems loomed--their lumberyards and sawmills were in financial conflict, vessel sales and the war had eliminated the company's transport capacity, and new steam schooners were rapidly making their sailing ships antiquated in the lumber carrying trade.
Leadership to run this complex organization also was diminishing--the founders were growing old and passing on, and there were few of such wisdom, substance and drive to replace them. Despite efforts to streamline the organization, update equipment and exploit the potential of their greatest asset--their timberland--they were losing ground. In 1925 they sold the Puget Mill Company and most of the timberlands to the Charles R. McCormick Lumber Company with the agreement that a major rebuilding program would take place at the mills.
Rebirth.... World War II.
Despite several austerity programs, manufacturing improvements and financial concessions, the Charles R. McCormick Lumber Company defaulted on their loan and in 1938 all property reverted to the company that would, in June of 1940, be consolidated under the name Pope & Talbot, Inc. The timing was ideal! World War II breathed new life into the company--their fleet was called on by the US and its allies to supply vital materials to troops around the globe. Lumber was needed for the war effort to build bridges, military housing, plants and other essential construction. At the peak of the war, Pope & Talbot was responsible for the operation of 76 ships. Sadly, however, the company lost many men and ships during the conflict.
Expansion... Peace Time.
Bolstered by the war's insatiable demand for lumber and shipping services, Pope & Talbot entered the post-war era ready to tackle strategies for the longer term. For a time, their shipping business remained strong, bringing American troops home and shipping supplies to war-ravaged Europe. Post-war prosperity and population growth created a housing shortage that held great promise for the company. Timberlands near Oakridge, Oregon were purchased on July 2, 1946 to ensure a strong log supply. The company built a new sawmill and began a serious program of tree farming. With this focus on lumber, the office of the executive vice president moved to Portland, Oregon. The passing of an era was slowly approaching. In spite of heroic efforts, foreign competition combined with industry labor strikes and rising operational costs eventually spelled the end of Pope & Talbot's shipping activities. With the sale of the four remaining vessels by 1963, Pope & Talbot, Inc. was purely a lumber only company for the first time in its history.
New Directions.... A Global Environment.
Gradually, the company began to diversify into other types of products and real estate ventures. Port Ludlow was the company's most ambitious development. With 350 lots, a marina, restaurant and full recreational facilities, it was recognized as the most extensive water-oriented development of its type in the Pacific Northwest.
But the Vietnam war years affected the real estate division with inflation-driven high construction costs and a lack of recreational home buyers. The company surfaced from the economic turmoil of the early '60s reasonably healthy. By 1967, there was a new group of young, bold managers and executives. They saw the company rebound in the next year by reaching into new markets during a booming national economy. Pope & Talbot successfully implemented its blueprint for expansion in 1969 with the purchase of a Canadian operation consisting of several sawmills in Midway and Grand Forks, B.C., and cutting rights to more than a million acres of timber in the area. A small log conversion program based on a successful Port Gamble model was immediately set in motion to optimize the smaller timber, and the Midway mill introduced the first computerized sawing process in North America. The stage was set for the new generation to accept the torch from those at the top who had led the company through the previous four tumultuous decades.
The seventies saw the end of the war in Vietnam and the introduction of the computer microchip--both paving the way for sweeping change world-wide. Pope & Talbot also headed in new directions. With Peter T. Pope now chairman of the board, the company financed a 15-year plan of expansion and improvement.
In 1972, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange; the next year produced record revenues. Through one of the worst recessions in modern history, Pope & Talbot began to build a balanced forest products company with an interrelated mix of products that peaked at different times in the business cycle. They expanded the use of computers and scanners in their sawmills to maximize the output from each log; and in 1978, took the first step away from their past with the purchase of 50 percent interest in a kraft pulp mill at Halsey, Oregon. By December, 1985, they had spun off the company's real estate and timberlands into Pope Resources, a limited partnership.
In addition to wood products, Pope & Talbot, Inc. had become the largest manufacturer of private-label tissue products in the nation, and the second largest supplier of private label disposable diapers. They now had full ownership of the Halsey mill and developed their own sheeted pulp product called "White Gold."
In 1988 Pope & Talbot was named to the Fortune 500 list, a testament to the strength of the 15-year plan. In the period that followed, widespread economic recession set in, environmental issues moved to the forefront, timber resources dwindled, and competition became fierce. Sadly, on November 30, 1995, the Port Gamble sawmill closed its doors forever, after more than 140 years of operation; environmental issues and log shortages had brought about what had seemed impossible. A year later, the company realized a good return on their short-term investment when they sold the diaper division. The timing was excellent-- branded label leaders were launching extraordinary assaults on the enormous private label market. In March of 1998, the company divested the last part of its former Consumer Products Division with the sale of the tissue operations in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to PLAINWELL, INC.
At this time the company began significant efforts to refocus on its two core commodity businesses: Lumber and Pulp. During 1998, with the pulp market suffering from the Asian economic crisis, the company purchased a majority interest in Harmac Pacific, a Canadian based market pulp manufacturer with one large pulp mill in Nanaimo, B.C. A new sales division, Pope & Talbot Pulp Sales, was also established to efficiently market the outputs of both the Halsey and Nanaimo mills. In November 1999, Pope & Talbot purchased the balance of Harmac Pacific shares and fully consolidated the Nanaimo mill into the company.
In 2001, Pope & Talbot continued its growth in pulp and looked northward to the Mackenzie region of B.C. The Mackenzie pulp mill was purchased in June of that year. The Mackenzie mill (known for producing a fine grade of northern bleached softwood kraft chip and sawdust pulp) has been an excellent fit to the company's existing operations, complementing the sawdust pulp produced at Halsey and the high-quality Harmac pulps.
Pope & Talbot's interest in Northern B.C. continued in 2005 when the company expanded its wood products business with the acquisition of the Fort St. James sawmill and its associated timber harvesting rights. The 250 million board foot sawmill produces Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) lumber for the U.S., Canadian and Japanese home construction and remodeling markets. The mill was constructed in 1969 and its last major rebuild was in 1999. The acquisition is a great strategic fit for Pope & Talbot, as its geographic location in the Northern Interior of British Columbia diversifies the company's timber base and expands the products offered to our existing and new customers. '
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