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.
