The Oliver Planing Mill

In all of the brief biographies of Daniel K. Oliver his occupation was identified as “carpenter,” which was an extreme underrating of his accomplishments. Of course these “biographies” were only based on his obituary and the biographies included in two books of area history, one from 1900 (while he was alive) and one from 1912 (six years after his death). In truth Daniel and his brother John were probably among the biggest building contractors in Spokane. In addition Daniel became the sole owner of a sawmill, the first one in Spokane to be powered by steam and therefore the first mill to sound a steam whistle in the city.

In the summer of 1883 W.C. Johnson, a Mr. Burns, and William Wiscombe started a sash, door, blind and planing mill in the eastern part of Spokane. It was 1884 when Daniel Oliver made an investment in the Wiscombe and Johnson Planing mill, becoming an equal partner. Wiscombe shortly thereafter withdrew from the firm and for years it was the Oliver and Johnson Planing mill. In 1885 a newspaper article in the Spokane Falls Review announced that Oliver and Johnson, owners of a planing mill, were planning to build a steam saw mill in conjunction with their present operation. The planing mill produced finished lumber as well as doors and window sashes. In January of 1885 a spokesman-Review story announced that they had been shut down since December 16, apparently because of an oversupply of windows and doors on hand. It said they were shipping a large quantity of these products to Chewelah and Embry.

I didn’t find information on the Oliver mill as to production statistics, but I did find an article on the Spokane Mill Company so that I can give an idea of the production of this type of mill in Spokane at that time. The Spokane Mill Company manufactured lumber, shingles, sashes, doors and inside furnishings. In 1888 the output of lumber for the mill was 15,000,000 feet, 6,000 doors and 10,000 windows, doubling the production of 1887.  During seven months of the year they ran night and day and kept 200 hands employed with an aggregate payroll of $150,000 per year. Another company, The Spokane Manufacturing and Lumber Company was located on Second street, near the Northern Pacific depot. They used lumber principally from Idaho, where it was cut from the stump and sawed on the spot, then shipped by rail to Spokane. Six car loads were received on an average day. During 1883 the company cut about 2,500,000 feet of lumber. This mill also manufactured windows and doors. Seventy-five men were employed in the winter and one hundred and forty-five  in summer. I believe that both of these mill were powered by the river, which was standard at the time and was why they were located near the river.

In August of 1888 a story in the Spokane Falls Review announced that  two carloads of machinery had been received from “eastern manufactories” consisting of large Phoenix boilers, engines and also Westinghouse double cylinder (steam) engines and a lot of lath mills, planers and other machinery. One of these large engines ‘is for the Oliver planing mill and will be placed there at once.”

An October 1888 meeting of the mill owners “to form a protective union to regulate the prices of rough and finished lumber” was attended by J.W. Oliver, indicating he was a partner in the mill with his brother.

In August of 1888 a fire was reported as threatening the Oliver Planing Mill and the fire department prevented damage to the property. “Owners J.W. Oliver and D.K. Oliver presented twenty-five dollars to the department for its disabled firemen fund.”

At the end of 1888 Daniel sold the Oliver Planing Mill to W.R. Martin who took over the property which was near the Division Street bridge.