Central Ore Dock No. 6

Marquette,

A Wisconsin Central ore dock in Marquette, Michigan, salvaged in early 2000 by a contractor hired by the railroad, provides Trestlewood with another source of hundreds of thousands of board feet of Douglas Fir timbers. Marquette's Ore Dock No. 6 was the final in a long line of docks which, beginning in the mid-1800s, established the town as a major shipping point of . The South Shore Railway Company's efforts to build the Ore Dock in 1931-1932 were influenced by the Great Depression economy. The original plans called for the entire 3,000 foot approach to the dock to be constructed of timber, but low steel prices made this fireproof, low-maintenance material a viable option. When all was said and done, steel had been used to construct over 85% of the dock approach. Still, the 420 feet of approach constructed of timber provided a great example of classic mid-twentieth-century timber construction. With the outbreak of World War II, the use of Ore Dock No. 6 was once again influenced by world events. The fear of sabatoge required the use of greater precautions (such as armed guards and extra fire extinguishers) to ensure that the ore dock could continue operating. Throughout the years, various improvements were made to provide for the dock's continued use. For instance, some of the untreated timbers were replaced by treated, rot-resistant material. Improvements to and use of the ore dock ended in 1971 when it was closed after the mine that was its main supplier was forced to shut down due to the development of higher quality pelletized ore. Efforts are now underway to convert the area from which the approach to the dock was removed into a "Downtown Linear Park." This park should help to bring the community together and to preserve the area's unique history. In the meantime, the timbers from Wisconsin Central Ore Dock No. 6 are available for use in a wide variety of applications which will extend the influence of this exciting structure and its history far beyond the confines of Marquette, Michigan.

Information source: Magnaghi, Russell M. "Historic American Engineering Record: Marquette Ore Dock No. 6 Haer No. MI-45," 1990.

Spiegel Catalog Warehouse

Chicago

Outdated Spiegel Catalog Warehouse buildings in Chicago's South Side are the source of hundreds of thousands of board feet of Trestlewood Southern Yellow Pine flooring and accessory products. The 21 Spiegel Chicago buildings, 7 of which were built in 1916 and most of the rest of which were built between World War I and World War II, served as Spiegel's primary distribution facility until 1995, when a new $135 million facility was brought on line near Columbus, Ohio. The old, multi-story Chicago buildings just could not compete with the efficiencies offered by the ultra-modern, single level Ohio facility. Merchandise that was handled 7 or 8 times in Chicago only needs to be handled once or twice in Ohio. Fortunately, some of the materials from the historic Spiegel Chicago buildings are being given a second life. Trestlewood purchased several truckloads of 3" x 6" and 3" x 8" vertical decking that served as warehouse floors in many of the buildings, and is now remanufacturing this Southern Yellow Pine decking into beautiful rustic flooring and accessory products.

Information sources: 12/18/94 Chicago Sun-Times article; 12/1/95 Modern Materials Handling article.

Hammonds Cold Storage Buildings

Chicago In 1998, Trestlewood took advantage of the opportunity to purchase hundreds of thousands of board feet of Heart Pine timbers (mainly 6" x 12" x 16') salvaged from Hammonds Cold Storage Buildings at the northeast corner of 47th and Racine in Chicago. We have struggled to find reliable sources of information about the Hammonds buildings, but let us tell you what we know (or, more accurately, what we have been told.) The Hammonds buildings were players in the Chicago meat industry made infamous by Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. These buildings would have been used to refrigerate the meat coming from the Chicago stockyards. Many of the 6" x 12" Heart Pine timbers have regular bolt holes where meat rack hangers were attached. Construction of the original Hammonds building(s) at 47th and Racine likely started in the early 1860s. There is some indication that Abraham Lincoln may have attended the opening ceremonies. The Hammonds complex expanded in size and scope throughout the 19th Century. It is likely that at one point it was largely rebuilt after a major fire. The complex was a major shipper and rail point through World War II and into the 1960s. The Hammonds Cold Storage Buildings at Chicago's 47th and Racine have been out of commission for some time. Fortunately, flooring and other beautiful products produced from the Heart Pine timbers that were salvaged from these buildings are still available.

Pickle Vats

Heinz and Other Trestlewood has had a "Picklewood" product line since early 1998, when it purchased wood from pickle vats salvaged from a Heinz Pickle Works plant in Isleton, California (on the Sacramento River between Sacramento and San Francisco.) The Isleton plant was built in the 1916-1920 time frame by Heinz. Heinz abandoned the plant in the early 1970s. The plant was later sold to an olive processor who used it for a short time (this company did not use the pickle vats which remained on the property.) By the early 1980s, the plant was scheduled for demolition. Duncan McCormack happened upon the project and worked out an arrangement with the demolition contractor which allowed him to salvage the approximately 60 pickle vats which remained (up to 10 vats had already been destroyed.) Trestlewood later purchased over 100,000 board feet of wood salvaged from the vats (6x8, 4x4 and 2x12 Redwood and 3x9 to 3x12 and 2x6 Douglas Fir) from Mr. McCormack. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the pickle vat Redwood sold quickly. The Douglas Fir has also proven popular--this material produces a dark, distressed flooring product which has been especially well-received. Trestlewood's original batch of Picklewood is now essentially gone, but Trestlewood has been able to replace the Heinz pickle vat stock with similar stock salvaged from pickle vats at other locations.

Information source (Heinz pickle vats): Duncan McCormack

River Bottoms

Logs reclaimed from river bottoms provide Trestlewood with beautiful Heart Pine and White Pine flooring and accessory lines. Rivers and creeks were often used to move logs to the mills before roads and railways penetrated the forests. The great river drives (some of which began in the early 1800s) of thousands of logs did not occur without difficulty. Log jams caused by rocks, sandbars and islands sometimes required courageous lumberjacks and "dock rats" to walk onto the piled up logs in search of the log causing the jam. Once the log was freed, the men scrambled back to the safety of the shore. Despite efforts to break up jams and to "sweep" rivers to place marooned logs back on their course, some logs were still lost as they became waterlogged and sunk to the bottom of the river. At the time of the drives, old-growth forests were still abundant and it was not profitable for timber companies to try to retrieve these "sinker logs." Decades (or even centuries) later, wood of the quality of these sinker logs is increasingly difficult to find. Market prices reflect this difficulty and have started to make the recovery of these logs economically feasible. The recovery of these logs not only cleans up the rivers and removes the dangers of loose logs and dead heads, but also makes some beautiful, high-quality antique Heart Pine and White Pine products available to you.

Other Sources

While Trestlewood's focus is on salvage projects involving hundreds of thousands or even millions of board feet of wood, it also purchases wood from smaller projects from time to time. Smaller sources of wood have included old sawmill buildings, barns, various other buildings, dock structures, a telegraph line and a turkey farm. Trestlewood usually purchases wood that has been salvaged by others. Due, in part, to our smaller purchases, we always have a variety of "odds and ends" around that do not appear on our standard product lists. Don't hesitate to ask what we might have to meet a specific need. We will usually even be able to tell you where a specific piece of wood came from!