The Willamette Falls Paper Company (formerly the West Linn Paper Company) is an American paper manufacturing company with a paper mill located just above the Willamette Falls on the northwest bank of the Willamette River, in the city of West Linn, Oregon. It sits across the river from the site of the defunct Blue Heron Paper Company in Oregon City.
| Willamette Falls Paper Company | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | West Linn, Oregon, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 45°21′23″N 122°36′56″W / 45.3563°N 122.6155°W |
| Industry | Pulp and paper industry |
| Address | 4800 Mill Street |
| Website | www |
History
editThe Willamette Falls have been home to several paper mills, beginning with a mill in Oregon City in 1866. The Willamette Falls Pulp and Paper Company opened on the West Linn side in 1889.[1] It employed up to 1,600 people at the peak of its operations, and historians credit the mill with fueling regional publishing and supplying paper for publications across the U.S.[2] The ownership of the West Linn mill changed several times; it was owned by Crown Zellerbach until late 1985, James River until 1990,[3][4] and Simpson until 1996, when its closure idled nearly 400 employees.[5][6] The mill reopened in 1997 as the West Linn Paper Company.[1]
After two decades, the West Linn Paper Company announced it was shutting down in October 2017 due to an unexpected shortage of pulp supply.[2][7] The mill reopened in November 2019 as Willamette Falls Paper Company with 97 of its previous employees,[8][9] after a "multimillion dollar bet" from investor Ken Peterson's Columbia Ventures, who intends to demonstrate the viability of making paper using wheat farmers' waste straw instead of wood pulp.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Paper Making in West Linn". West Linn Historical Society. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^ a b Mike Rogoway The (October 18, 2017). "West Linn Paper will shut mill after 128 years". OregonLive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ "Two Oregon plants being sold by James River". United Press International. August 17, 1990. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
- ^ Robertson, Lance (August 18, 1990). "James River to sell 2 mills". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 14C – via Google News.
- ^ "Simpson Paper plans to close Evergreen Mill, idling 388". The Seattle Times. July 24, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
- ^ "Oregon's oldest paper mill set to close in September". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Lewiston, Idaho. Associated Press. July 24, 1996. p. 1C – via Google News.
- ^ "End of an era: West Linn paper mill to close, after 128 years". Northwest Labor Press. October 31, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "West Linn paper mill reopens, 120 employees hired". KGW. November 5, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ Mike Rogoway (November 4, 2019). "West Linn paper mill reopens as Willamette Falls Paper Co., with 125 employees". OregonLive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Mike Rogoway (June 26, 2019). "West Linn paper mill to reopen this summer with new owner, 85 employees". OregonLive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.