Tract Owned by Salsich Lumber Company Will Have Good Railroad Facilities
Tacoma Daily Ledger March 3, 1907 (p. 5)
Eastern capitalists, associated with H. E. Salsich in the purchase of land and water rights on the Nisqually River in Pierce and Thurston Counties, plan the establishment of a new town to be located on both the Union Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railways, the construction and operation of am electric line to Tacoma, and the erection of several large industrial establishments. These projects, in combination with plans concerning the erection of a large power plant already announced by the Ledger, will mean the investment of large sums of money and the development of a great commercial organization backed by men financially interested in the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway and prominent Eastern capitalists whose attention has been attracted by the opportunities offered investors in the Northwest.
Mr. Salsich in now in the East conferring with the men who are aiding the financing of his projects. During the two months he was in Tacoma he secured detailed surveys on his large holdings on the Nisqually and of the entire river, in order to obtain data to be submitted at a conference to be held in Chicago in the near future. At this meeting the exact plan of operations to be followed in connections with the Pierce County properties of the Salsich Lumber company will be decided.
The power plant which Mr. Salsich plans to build and large sawmill and other woodworking industries contemplated will give employment to several hundred people. A townsite will be established at a location on the Nisqually, and streets will be graded and houses for workmen constructed. The power plant will furnish power for the factories located at the new town, for the Milwaukee car shops and the electric line to operated between the town and Tacoma.
Many Easterners Interested
Although all of these plans are yet to at an early stage of their development, they give promise of culminating in a gigantic investment movement and the establishment of industries which be of considerable value to Tacoma. Eastern governors and senators and men of almost unlimited means are interested in these projects. They have recently been making liberal investments in timber land, which indicates the confidence they have in the future of this action. The new town on the Nisqually will be only one of the channels into which this investment movement will be directed.
Mr. Salsich has stated that three railroads will pass either over or within a short distance of his property. He is said to have information that the Union Pacific line will pass directly over the land and through the site of the proposed town. A branch line of the Milwaukee to Olympia and Grays Harbor will pass near the town and a spur track will afford facilities to the line of the Northern Pacific.