Life and Lunch: Alfred Eisenstaedt’s Weyerhaeuser Timber Crew Photographs

In December 1954, Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt journeyed into the woods near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, for an unusual assignment. His subjects were a Weyerhaeuser Timber Company logging crew. But instead of photographing them felling trees, the men would appear …

Wood in the Space Age: Forest Products at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair

On April 21, 1962, the Century 21 Exposition (better known as the Seattle World’s Fair) opened to the public. From a vacation home in Florida, President Kennedy pressed a telegraph key to officially start the fair. The Seattle World’s Fair …

From the First Tree Farm to the President’s Front Lawn: Remembering the 1961 National Christmas Tree

The chosen 75-foot Douglas fir on the Clemons Tree Farm.

Sixty years ago this month the National Christmas Tree was erected in Washington, DC, on the Ellipse between the White House and the Washington Monument. The annual tradition of a …

Forest History on the Move: Everett’s Wandering Weyerhaeuser Office

Twenty-five miles north of Seattle, at the mouth of the Snohomish River, lies the city of Everett, Washington. Officially incorporated on May 4, 1893, the city has seen more than 126 years of growth and development, much of it bolstered …

Mason County Forest Festival Rolls On

A parade, a pageant, and Paul Bunyan. These may not be the first three things that come to mind when you think about fire prevention, but residents of Mason County, Washington, back in 1945 had their own unique ideas. To …

On the Waterfront: Pulp Company Photos Document Bellingham’s Past

Small crowds gathered around the Bellingham, Washington, waterfront on a Tuesday afternoon this past February to watch a 93-foot red brick building crash to the ground. The planned demolition of the former bleach plant building was just the latest …

It’s "Talk Like a (Log) Pirate" Day

In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19, we here at Peeling Back the Barrrrk bring you the dramatic tale "Log Pirates of Puget Sound." Although "Log Pirates" is an article by Stewart H. …

May 31, 1940: Keeping it Green

On this date in 1940, Washington Governor Clarence D. Martin issued an influential proclamation appealing for the positive action by all of Washington’s citizens in the prevention of wildfires. This public proclamation would directly lead to the creation of the …