Lumber was one of the Puget Sound's main exports in the 1890s. In 1899, 200,000 board feet of milled lumber left Seattle every day by rail or ship for the eastern United States and various Pacific ports. Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company began operations in 1917. The company, starting with some houses and a mill store, built a small community atop Snoqualmie Falls, with a community center in 1918, and in 1920, the 50-bed Snoqualmie Falls Hospital. Snoqualmie Falls Lumber was eventually bought by Weyerhaeuser in 1948. This photo of the log pond out the mill was taken two years later by photographer Josef Scaylea.

Scaylea (1913-2004) worked for 35 years as chief photographer for the Seattle Times, winning over 1000 awards for his photographs highlighting the scenery and people in the Pacific Northwest. He donated a collection of his photographs and photography equipment to MOHAI in 1993.

Handwritten on image: Josef Scaylea.
Handwritten on verso: 1950. Log Storage Pond. Weyerhaeuser mill in Snoqualmie, King County.