Silliman's Papers
The documents page for danielsilliman.blogpsot.com.Thursday, June 20, 2002
Twin came with rush, went with depression
BY DANIEL SILLIMAN
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
The people of Twin were known for dancing on their beach midway between Joyce and Pysht.
Today, the town’s beach is left to sea birds and waves and remnants of the former logging town are few and far between.
Like other North Olympic Peninsula communities, Twin boomed and died. After an epidemic, a natural disaster and an economic downturn, the logging community of Twin was left to the waves.
Twin began with a rush. On Nov. 20, 1890, the U.S. Land Regulation Office in Seattle opened acreage between the east and west forks of Twin River. All of it was claimed in two days.
Twin was an isolated community with no roads connecting it to the outside world.
To reach Twin people had to come by boat or walk miles along the beach.The isolation made the community very close. Twin was known for its picnics, sports, parties and dances — all held on the beach along the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the two mouths of the Twin River’s forks.
The isolation made business difficult. A number of early logging ventures failed in the community.
It wasn’t until the turn of the century when Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was built between Twin and Port Angeles that the town’s boomed.
Puget Sound Mill and Timber established headquarters in Twin after the railroad came. With the railroad linking Twin to other communities, the town thrived, and so did business.
The town received a boost during World War I when the government assigned 27,000 men to its “Spruce Division” to harvest spruce for the wing spars of the nations airplanes. About 200 of the soldier-loggers were stationed in Twin.
This was Twin’s high tide. At the time, Twin was the largest logging camp in the world, records show. With the extra lumber required by military production and the thriving timber industry, Twin was alive and booming. But the war, the industry boom and the good luck of Twin would all soon end--along with Twin itself.
An influenza epidemic hit the logging community in 1918. The flu killed dozens of the community residents and left many others weakened. This epidemic was followed by the news of the end of World War I in 1919.
Economic downturn The good news of the end of war brought bad economic times to Twin. The “Spruce Division” was disbanded and the 200 soldier-loggers left Twin. As Twin struggled to recover, nature intervened. The “big wind of ‘21” destroyed 8 million board feet of sellable lumber growing on the North Olympic Peninsula.
While the 110 mph winds damaged the timber industry around the North Olympic Peninsula, the storm devastated Twin’s logging industry.
Twin’s fate was sealed with the stock market crash of 1929. The Great Depression led the timber companies to cut back production and Twin was severely impacted. In the early 1930s, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad took their rails back and tore up the tracks connecting Twin to the outside world.
The jobs and money coming into Twin ceased. The lumber stopped going out of Twin, and the little logging community ended as quickly as it began. The people of Twin moved away, looking for a more stable town with jobs and industry.
Today only the waves dance on Twin’s beach.
BY DANIEL SILLIMAN
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
The people of Twin were known for dancing on their beach midway between Joyce and Pysht.
Today, the town’s beach is left to sea birds and waves and remnants of the former logging town are few and far between.
Like other North Olympic Peninsula communities, Twin boomed and died. After an epidemic, a natural disaster and an economic downturn, the logging community of Twin was left to the waves.
Twin began with a rush. On Nov. 20, 1890, the U.S. Land Regulation Office in Seattle opened acreage between the east and west forks of Twin River. All of it was claimed in two days.
Twin was an isolated community with no roads connecting it to the outside world.
To reach Twin people had to come by boat or walk miles along the beach.The isolation made the community very close. Twin was known for its picnics, sports, parties and dances — all held on the beach along the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the two mouths of the Twin River’s forks.
The isolation made business difficult. A number of early logging ventures failed in the community.
It wasn’t until the turn of the century when Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was built between Twin and Port Angeles that the town’s boomed.
Puget Sound Mill and Timber established headquarters in Twin after the railroad came. With the railroad linking Twin to other communities, the town thrived, and so did business.
The town received a boost during World War I when the government assigned 27,000 men to its “Spruce Division” to harvest spruce for the wing spars of the nations airplanes. About 200 of the soldier-loggers were stationed in Twin.
This was Twin’s high tide. At the time, Twin was the largest logging camp in the world, records show. With the extra lumber required by military production and the thriving timber industry, Twin was alive and booming. But the war, the industry boom and the good luck of Twin would all soon end--along with Twin itself.
An influenza epidemic hit the logging community in 1918. The flu killed dozens of the community residents and left many others weakened. This epidemic was followed by the news of the end of World War I in 1919.
Economic downturn The good news of the end of war brought bad economic times to Twin. The “Spruce Division” was disbanded and the 200 soldier-loggers left Twin. As Twin struggled to recover, nature intervened. The “big wind of ‘21” destroyed 8 million board feet of sellable lumber growing on the North Olympic Peninsula.
While the 110 mph winds damaged the timber industry around the North Olympic Peninsula, the storm devastated Twin’s logging industry.
Twin’s fate was sealed with the stock market crash of 1929. The Great Depression led the timber companies to cut back production and Twin was severely impacted. In the early 1930s, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad took their rails back and tore up the tracks connecting Twin to the outside world.
The jobs and money coming into Twin ceased. The lumber stopped going out of Twin, and the little logging community ended as quickly as it began. The people of Twin moved away, looking for a more stable town with jobs and industry.
Today only the waves dance on Twin’s beach.
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