In 1906,
the Aloha Lumber Company was started by Ralph Emerson and his college
friend, Wilfred Dole of the Dole Pineapple Company in Hawaii. At
that time, the only access to this new town was by the Northern Pacific
Railroad. The NP had completed the line from Hoquiam to Moclips during
the previous year, 1905.
After
WWI, a gentleman from the east coast came west by train and landed
in Hoquiam. He had heard of the many job opportunities in Chehalis
County (now Grays Harbor County). After arriving in Hoquiam, Frank
Milward stopped at the office of a mill where he met both Emerson
and Dole. Although Frank had little experience with lumber mills,
they were impressed with his other abilities and convinced him to
come to work at the Aloha Lumber Company.
Upon
arriving at Aloha, Frank noticed how most of the virgin forests
from Hoquiam
to the coast had not been touched. After settling in to his new
job and small cabin, he sent for his wife to come join him from
back
east. She arrived several weeks later in the middle of the night.
Frank recalled in his autobiography, "In the Span of a Lifetime" that
he had fallen asleep at the mill while waiting for her arrival.
It was dark when the engineer of the Northern Pacific dropped
her off
about a mile east of the mill. Since Frank was no where to be
seen, the NP crew tried to convince Mrs. Milward to go to Moclips
where
she could stay overnight at any of the hotels in town. She thanked
them but turned down their offer. So with luggage in hand, she
followed the tracks in the pitch darkness among a towering virgin
forest in
search of her husband. When the train sped past the mill, Frank
awoke and realized his error in falling asleep. He high-tailed
it down
the track and found his wife.
Frank
Milward worked for the Aloha Lumber Company for several decades becoming
the manager. In the 1950's he began designing a bridge system to
span the wild Quinault River. By the end of that decade, not one
but two specially designed truss bridges had been built across the
river. The second was called the Chow Chow Bridge. Both bridges were
built without pilings to keep the raging winter flows from damaging
the bridge.
Over the
many decades that the Aloha Lumber Company was in operation, it suffered
through many devastating fires and economic downturns. The mill was
bought out by Evans Products and eventually closed for good.
The Aloha
Tavern, a popular coastal icon, began business in the 1920's. It
is still in operation today. The building just to the east of the
tavern was once the home of the Aloha Post Office. At the museum,
we have the original Aloha post office sign on display. The post
office closed in 1979 and all mail was sent to the Pacific Beach
post office.
