Modoc Lumber Company Collection

Collection

Identifier: SHL222

Staff Only

Content Description

Collection was donated by the owners of the Modoc Lumber Company, the Shaw Family. Laurence Shaw is remembered as the founder of the Shaw Historical Library in 1983 at the Oregon Institute of Technology. Collection contains Metzker's Atlases, maps of the Klamath Indian Reservation and lumber industry (one of them framed), books, government documents and one periodical "The Forest Herald" (4 copies of one issue). Two boxes with folders: "Klamath Indian Reservation Termination/Creation of Winema National Forest", "Creation of the Shaw Historical Library", and "Survey Notes From Shaw October 2008/Hwy 97 Maps". Vertical file pocket with folders: "Materials on the Klamath Reservation Termination from BIA." (1959-1964). Other materials include printed copy of the article “Tionesta and West Central Modoc County: Its Life, Time and Legacy” by Maurice O’Callaghan from “The Journal of Modoc County Historical Society” No. 6 – 1984; spiral-bound brochure “Modoc Lumber Company. Laurence L. Shaw, President. Klamath Falls, Oregon”: black and white photographs of tree cutting and lumber work, no text; negative of a photograph of John A. Shaw tugboat, sent to Modoc Lumber Company, with the original envelope; folder with revised lists of employees of the Modoc Lumber Company, some with their work titles listed next to names: 1952-1953; printed copy of “United States Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. Sale Prospectus. 382,000,000 Feet National Forest Timber. Four Mile Creek and Bear Creek Units. Crater and Paulina National Forests, Oregon,” issued by the District Forester, Portland, Oregon, 1914. Some text is underlined in ink; and “Fremont National Forest: Progress Report. 60th Anniversary. 1906-1966.” Also included are 2 maps of the Klamath Indian Reservation: 1925 and 1932. Donated in 2019 by Steve Kandra on behalf of the Shaw family.

Dates

Creation: 1955-2008

Biographical / Historical

Modoc Lumber Company in Klamath Falls, Oregon, was a privately owned business, started by Laurence L. Shaw in 1945. He served as the President of the Company and Chairman of the Board from 1945 to 1972. After that the title of the President went to his son, Thomas J. Shaw. The Modoc Lumber Company manufactured wood products from the local timber. The Company was located on the shore of Ewauna Lake. Operations included saw mills, dry kilns, a planing mill and a wood fuel pellet mill. Support facilities included log decks planers, storage sheds, a machine shop, a truck repair shop, a boiler room, parts storage and offices. Logs were funneled from the Ewauna Lake into the sawmill between the lake shore and Klamath Avenue. Stacks of lumber were laid for drying in the area beside Veterans Park. The last remaining mill on the shore of the Ewauna Lake, Modoc Lumber Company ceased operations on May 1, 1995. Between 1995 and 2000, all of its structures were demolished or removed.

Extent

8.8 Linear Feet (2 boxes with folders and books; 2 large maps, one of them framed, atlases and small miscellaneous items)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Modoc Lumber Company in Klamath Falls, Oregon, was a privately owned business, started by Laurence L. Shaw in 1945. The Company stayed in business until 1995, being the last mill on the shore of the Ewauna Lake. Collection contains books, maps, folders with documents, and other materials, related to the operations of the Company and creation of the Shaw Historical Library at Oregon Tech by Laurence Shaw.