A Brief History of the Park

The Dickman Lumber Mill operated at this location continuously from the 1890s until 1974. It was the last in a long tradition of lumber mills on Tacoma’s “Old Town” waterfront to close down. Following a fire in 1979, the remnants of the mill slowly deteriorated. Parks Tacoma acquired the site in the early 1990s and the site was rehabilitated and developed as a new public park.

At Dickman Mill Park, all that’s left of Tacoma’s heritage as the “Lumber Capital of the World” are some concrete foundations, remnants of the docks and a sign explaining the history of one of the busiest mills on the waterfront.

Generous Gift to Restore the Head Saw

Cambia Health Solutions, the parent company of Regence BlueShield, made a significant community gift to Parks Tacoma to restore a 15-ton throwback to Tacoma’s history – the last known “head saw” in Washington.

The saw has returned to its original home on Tacoma’s waterfront, which today features more than 2 miles of parks and is one of the most popular attractions in the region. The project’s completion was celebrated on July 10, 2021.

Learn more about the Dickman Mill project

VIDEO: The History of Dickman Mill

Narrated by Ralph (Skip) Dickman, III

Please note: the video quality has been affected by the archival nature of the footage.

Artist Mary Coss’ installation Ghost Timbre accompanies the sculpture Ghost Log, which lies on the land of the Puyallup tribe on the Tacoma waterfront.

This abstracted sound piece is made from interviews of millworkers and members of the Puyallup Tribe. These voices are layered with sounds of the natural environment, native creatures that live in these Puyallup ancestral lands, the sounds of the mill and its workers and more. Voices include: Mary Coss (Artist), Brandon Reynon (Puyallup Historic Preservation), Amber Hayward (Puyallup Tribal Language Program), Connie McCloud (Puyallup Culture Department) and former millworkers Milt Farvour, Dan Kropf, Paul Plein and Michelle Baskett.

This piece was edited as a part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program, and was made possible by a Heritage Project Grant from the City of Tacoma’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. You can also access this piece on site at Dickman Mill Park through a QR code.

As Coss gathered information and heard from community members, she was enthralled by the stories and wanted to share these interviews in a comprehensive format. This process led Coss to create a seven episode podcast series titled Timber Lines.

Listen to Ghost TimbreListen to Timber Lines