The Long-Bell Lumber Company and subsidiary companies proposed general plan of Longview and vicinity showing townsite, suburban additions, industrial waterfront, and industrial sites, Cowlitz Valley Cowlitz County Washington, (1925)

The Long-Bell Lumber Company and subsidiary companies proposed general plan of Longview and vicinity showing townsite, suburban additions, industrial waterfront, and industrial sites, Cowlitz Valley Cowlitz County Washington, (1925)

Longview (Wash.)--Maps<br>Weyerhaeuser Company<br>Columbia River<br>Cowlitz River<br>Cowlitz Valley<br>Long, Mr. Alexander<br>City Planning--Washington State--Longview

1 map; 44 x 57 cm. Scale 1 inch equals 1000 feet. Drawn by W. Owen. "This map indicates nothing more than a proposed general plan of development of lands thereon designated." Proposed camp site and St. Helens Inn hand drawn in color.<br>The town of Longview lies at the confluence of the Columbia and Cowlitz Rivers in western Washington, ninety miles from the Pacific Ocean. The town is a rare example of a privately funded city that was planned completely before any structure was put up or any resident lived there. It began out of the necessity of the Long-Bell Lumber Company to branch find a replacement timber source. By 1918, clear-cutting of Long-Bell lands in the south had completely used up this supply of timber. What they found was a section of old growth trees in 23,851 acres which they purchased from the Weyerhaeuser Corp. They added acreage in the surrounding area until the total rose to some 70,000 acres! The president of the company, Mr. Alexander Long, chose the Washington site for originally one, and then two mills as the acreage was added. Realizing that 14,000 workers would be needed to handle two mills and that these workers would require homes and a community, Long ordered a survey of the land in 1921. He then hired two veteran city planning professionals--George B. Kessler (of St. Louis) and Hare & Hare (of Kansas City) to plan for a predicted population of 75,000. They did, and the town was finished in 1923. One of the housing developments, St. Helens Inn, is colored blue on this map. A row of five, two-story houses, the Inn boarded single men who worked for the mill. <br>Longview incorporated in 1924, one year before this map was published. Among the celebrities that came to visit the town in promotional stints were Queen Marie of Rumania (in 1926), the Reverend Billy Sunday (in 1924) and Aimee Semple McPherson's mother--Minnie, or "Ma", Kennedy (in 1931).

Longview Company Real Estate Department

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, WSU Libraries

Longview (Wash.) : Long-Bell Lumber Company

1925

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections

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Maps

WSU 160

United States--Washington (State)--Cowlitz County--Longview