Will there be artwork at the site?

Yes. This project will include artwork by local artist Mary Coss. Ghost Log will be an 8’ diameter by 44’ long Corten steel sculpture that sits on the historic head saw and carriage.

The Dickman Mill Park project site sits on Indigenous land, the traditional territory of the Coast Salish people. Cedar is sacred to the local Puyallup Tribe and the Ghost Log honors their history through form and text incorporated into the sculpture.

Read more about the artist and Ghost Log

Will the wetland be protected and/or restored?

The contractors have a process for erosion control in place so not to disturb the wetland. This project will not be restoring the wetland, although it is in good shape and Parks Tacoma may be doing some blackberry removals.

What was on the land before the mill?

Prior to settlement and industrialization, the area was used by the Puyallup people as a central part of their traditional homelands. There were several village sites along the waterfront.

There has been a mill on that site since 1889, with a salmon cannery next door to the north in the 80s. Much of the area along Ruston Way has been artificially filled in with the waste from the sawmills and the smelter over the years, so the geography of shoreline has changed a bit since the first mills were built in the 1870s.

Before the Dickman Mill there was a series of short-lived shingle mills in 1889-1906, at which point it became Danaher Lumber Co., where Ralph Dickman worked as manager. Dickman purchased the mill in 1922, and then passed on operations to his son Bud Dickman. Today, Skip Dickman (Bud’s son) carries on the family legacy at the Dickman Hines Lumber Co. in Federal Way.