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Crown Zellerbach Corporation Photographic Collection, ca. 1899-1980

Collection Overview

Title: Crown Zellerbach Corporation Photographic Collection, ca. 1899-1980

ID: P 216

Primary Creator: Crown Zellerbach Corporation

Extent: 1.0 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

This collection contains photographs of the Crown Zellerbach paper mill in Lebanon, Oregon.

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

Scope and Content Notes

The photographs, arranged chronologically, document mill operations from around 1900 until it was closed in 1980, and include photographs of mill buildings, log ponds and raw products. Several aerial photographs illustrate the growth of the mill through the years of operation. There are also photographs of the interior of the mill, paper machines and employees. A few photographs feature other Crown Zellerbach divisions, such as the Camas, Washington, paper mill and the headquarters in San Francisco. Crown Zellerbach's involvement with the community was also recorded in the photographs. Parades, parade floats and mill open houses are featured. Most of the photographs were taken from the 1920s to the 1950s. The albums are bound and contain multiple years. Documentary material includes histories of the mill, daily instructions, safety regulations and paper samples.

The collection consists primarily of black and white prints. Negatives, color prints and color negatives are indicated in the inventory where appropriate.

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

Biographical / Historical Notes

The Lebanon, Oregon, Crown Zellerbach paper mill was built in 1889. It initially made paper from wheat straw and converted to wood pulp in 1903. The mill started as Lebanon Paper Company and went through several mergers including Crown Willamette, finally merging with Zellerbach in the 1920s. The mill manufactured shell paper for wrapping such things as shotgun shells and dynamite, corrugated material and core paper. In the early 1950s, Crown Zellerbach chemists developed a line of chemicals from the by-products of the mill. The Orzan line of chemicals was sold to other manufacturers to use in materials such as linoleum paste, insecticides and other agricultural sprays. The mill was closed August 1, 1980 and at the time was one of the oldest paper mills in the Pacific Northwest.

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: approx. 1000 photographs; 3 photograph albums, and 0.25 cubic feet of documentary material

Related Materials: A 1965 motion picture film pertaining to paper manufacturing (FV120:279) is located in the Extension and Experiment Station Communications Moving Images (FV 120).

Preferred Citation: Crown Zellerbach Corporation Photographic Collection (P 216), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Other URL: A preliminary container list was created for this collection on or before November 30, 2015.

Creators

Crown Zellerbach Corporation

People, Places, and Topics

Crown Zellerbach Corporation
Festivals--Oregon--Lebanon.
Floods--Oregon--Santiam River.
Forest products--Northwest, Pacific.
Forest products industry--Northwest, Pacific.
Lebanon (Or.)
Natural Resources
Paper industry--Oregon--Lebanon.
Paper industry--Washington (State)--Camas.
Paper mills--Oregon--Lebanon.
Paper mills--Washington (State)--Camas.
Santiam River (Or.)
Wood-pulp industry--Oregon--Lebanon.
Wood-pulp industry--Washington (State)--Camas.

Forms of Material

Film negatives.
Photograph albums.
Photographic prints.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.