Prominent among the important
industrial concerns to which Santa Clara County is indebted fro much of
the rapid, yet sound and permanent development which has of late media
this section one of the most progressive of all the counties of the
gold gate, is the Pacific manufacturing Company, for the past
thirty-five years under the able management of its president, James H.
Pierce. His father, the late James P. Peirce, had been
president before him, and ever since the latter's death James H. has
had the reins well in hand. Associated with him are J. G.
Kennedy, manager of the San Francisco office; Herbert J. Quinn, manager
of the Los Angeles bank, and R. T. Pierce, secretary and treasurer,
another dependable official with a record of thiry-five years of
service. The directors are: James H. Pierce, J.G. Kennedy.
R. T. Pierce (son of R. T. Pierce), of San Jose, L. L. Morse and F. A.
Birge San Francisco , and W. F. Hayward. The concern employs
five hundred men, the year around, and has its main office at Santa
Clara, and is, without doubt, the most substantial industry in Santa
Clara , and the largest manufacturing concern of its kind in the State
of
California.
This company, founded with such foresight by the late James Pierronett Pierce,
and guided so admirably by James Henry Pierce, his son, and those
happily associate with him, has a most interesting history, as recently
outlined in the Pacific Factory Developer.
In 1875, the Pacific Manufacturing company started with a small planing
mill and lumber yard to supply the local needs of the town of Santa
Clara, and ever since this progressive company has steadily enlarged
its scope of work and field of operations, until now, its business
covers all of California, the Hawaiian Islands and extends as far east
as Utah. The company for many years has been a prominent factor
in
the building up of San Francisco, particularly so since the great fire
in 1906. Many of San Francisco's principal buildings bear
convincing evidence of the quality of the work turned out by the Santa
Clara mill. Also we may mention the St. Francis and Palace
hotels. the Humboldt and First National banks, and the Southern Pacific
and Balfour-Guthrie buildings as testimonials of its handicraft, and
several of the many buildings which are now under construction in the
Bay Cities.
The company ranks high among the sash and door factories of the
state. However, its specialty is fine, hardwood, interior
furnishings, and the quality of the work it turns out in this line is
recognized by different architects throughout California as being
unsurpassed. The company maintains a mill and lumber yard at
Santa Clara, covering an area of twenty acres, and a private switch
connects with the Southern Pacific Railroad, so as to facilitate the
handling of its large output, and for receiving lumber and raw
materials. In a recent interview W. F. Hayward, the popular
representative of the Santa Clara office, said that his company had
been doing a capacity business for some time past, which necessitated
the employment of between 500 and 600 people. During the war the
Pacific Manufacturing Company made a specialty of airplane parts, and
received much praise from the Government on the quality of the finished
work. Pioneers in their line, the Pacific Manufacturing Company
are always in a position to render excellent service, and all
work
turned out by them is known only as the best.
Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922.
[note- the Pacific Manufacturing Company closed in the 1960's]
TO SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
