Though PACCAR has long been a major employer and economic engine in south King County, to most of us it remains a hidden giant. From humble beginnings ($10,000 capital) in 1905 the company got it's start building trucks and railcars for the logging industry. When the original Duwamish plant burned to the ground, a new plant was constructed in Renton in 1909 on the same site where it operates today. The following image shows the plant layout as it was in 1909.
As the depression took its toll on the timber business, PACCAR switched to building buses to replace trolley's and street cars in cities such as Seattle. It was during this same period in the late 1930's when intercity rail was being replaced by buses and school districts needed buses to transport a burgeoning student population. The photo that follows shows the bus assembly plant.
Photo courtesy Museum of History & Industry, 1986.5.6755.2, Seattle PI photographer, circa 1938
Seems kind of ironic that we had rail service at the time but moved to replace it with buses. Now we are moving back to rail. Hmmmm? Here's another view of the plant.
Photo courtesy Museum of History & Industry, 1983.10.13326.2, Webster & Stevens photographer, circa 1939
Looks to be Henry Ford's classic assembly line process. During World War II, the plant switched production once more, primarily to building trucks. Following the War in 1945, PACCAR acquired Kenworth and today has grown to become a manufacturing behemoth with annual sales exceeding $19 billion. With it's headquarters in Bellevue, the company continues to invest in the Renton community having recently completed construction of a new 160,000 sq. ft. distribution facility. Pretty impressive record and major economic engine for our region.
The Paccar plant also produced M4 Sherman tanks.
Posted by: Davidw | 01/11/2017 at 08:42 PM