George T. Gerlinger

Last updated

George T. Gerlinger was influential in the railroad and lumber products business in the U.S. state of Oregon in the early 20th century. The oldest son of Louis Gerlinger, Sr., in 1902 he organized a group of investors in Dallas, Oregon to build railroad lines in the area.

In 1906, Gerlinger and his investors purchased a lumber mill and several stands of timber and founded the Willamette Valley Lumber Company. [1] George served as secretary and manager of the new company. Officers included Louis Gerlinger, Sr., president; H.L. Pittock, vice president; and F.W. Leadbetter, treasurer. George Cone served as director and mill superintendent. [2] In 1967, the company became Willamette Industries. Willamette Industries was one of the largest lumber companies in the world before a hostile takeover by Weyerhaeuser.

Gerlinger Motor Car Company was founded in 1912 by George and his younger brother Louis Gerlinger, Jr. as a car and truck dealership. In 1914, they decided to build their own truck with a more powerful six-cylinder engine. Ed Gerlinger, the youngest brother, was also involved in the business. The Gersix was unveiled in 1915. In 1917, the manufacturing operation was sold to Edgar K. Worthington, their Seattle landlord, and Captain Frederick W. Kent, an ex-Coast Guard Captain, investor and businessman. They re-incorporated as the Gersix Manufacturing Co. In 1923, the company became Kenworth Truck Co. [3]

In October 1955, the State of Oregon dedicated 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) as the George T. Gerlinger State Experimental Forest.

His memorial biography is housed in the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon. [4]

George's wife, Irene Hazard Gerlinger, was the first woman on the University of Oregon's Board of Regents and an important fundraiser for the university, including for what was then known as the University of Oregon Museum of Art. [5] Gerlinger Hall on the university campus is named for her. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas, Oregon</span> City in Oregon, United States

Dallas is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,854 at the 2020 census.

The Weyerhaeuser Company is an American timberland company which owns nearly 12,400,000 acres of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional 14,000,000 acres of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a century. It operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT).

PotlatchDeltic Corporation is an American diversified forest products company based in Spokane, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shay locomotive</span> Geared steam locomotive

The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive. Although the design of Ephraim Shay's early locomotives differed from later ones, there is a clear line of development that joins all Shays. Shay locomotives were especially suited to logging, mining and industrial operations and could operate successfully on steep or poor quality track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Johns, Portland, Oregon</span> Neighborhood in Portland Oregon

St. Johns is a neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States, located in North Portland on the tip of the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Willamette River and the Columbia River. The iconic St. Johns Bridge crosses the Willamette from the south, leading into downtown St. Johns. It was a separate, incorporated city from 1902 until 1915, when citizens of both St. Johns and Portland voted to approve its annexation to Portland, which took effect on July 8, 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland and Western Railroad</span> Class II railroad in Oregon

The Portland and Western Railroad is a 516-mile (830 km) Class II railroad serving the U.S. state of Oregon, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of shortline and regional railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming Inc. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamette and Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willamette Valley Railway</span> Short-line railroad in western Oregon

The Willamette Valley Railway is a short-line railroad that operates in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It leased a line from Woodburn to Stayton from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in February 1993, as well as a branch from Geer west to Salem, and purchased the property in 1996. The company also leased a line between Albany and Mill City in 1993, but transferred the lease to the Albany and Eastern Railroad in October 2000.

Willamette Industries, Inc. was a Fortune 500 forest products company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. In 2002, the lumber and paper company was purchased by competitor Weyerhaeuser of Federal Way, Washington in a hostile buyout and merged into Weyerhaeuser's existing operations.

Gerlinger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Louis Gerlinger Sr. was a businessperson in the railroad and timber industries in the U.S. state of Oregon in the early 20th century.

Carl Gerlinger, Sr. was an American businessperson in the U.S. state of Oregon in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Kellogg</span>

Joseph Kellogg was a well-known steamboat captain and businessman of Portland, Oregon.

The Simpson Investment Company is a privately held holding company based in Seattle, Washington in the US Pacific Northwest that specializes in manufacture of forest products. Founded as a logging company in 1890 by Sol Simpson, the company is now owned by the Reed family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Washington Weidler</span> Transportation agent, merchant

George Washington Weidler was a 19th-century transportation agent, investor, and business owner in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Born in Pennsylvania, he moved as a young man to St. Louis, Missouri, where he began a career in merchandising and shipping. His work gradually took him further west, to Utah Territory, Nevada Territory, California, and in 1866 to Oregon, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Black Rock is an unincorporated community and former logging camp in Polk County, Oregon, United States. It is located about three miles west of Falls City, in the Central Oregon Coast Range on the Little Luckiamute River.

The Salem, Falls City and Western Railway (SFC&W) was an American railroad based in Polk County, Oregon that ran between Salem and Black Rock via Dallas and Falls City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truman W. Collins</span> American businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist

Truman Wesley Collins was an American businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist from the state of Oregon. He was born into a wealthy and influential business family. Collins graduated from Willamette University and then attended graduate school at Harvard University. After college, he returned to the Pacific Northwest to join his family's lumber business. Over the years, he was the top executive for a number of Collins family businesses. He was also an active leader in several timber-related industry groups and contributed to selected education and religious institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon, California and Eastern Railway</span>

The Oregon, California and Eastern Railway (OC&E) was a 64-mile (103 km) rail line between Klamath Falls and Bly in the U.S. state of Oregon. After 70 years of bringing logs from nearby forests to local sawmills, the former railroad right of way was converted to the OC&E Woods Line State Trail.

References

  1. ↑ Weyerhaeuser tries to take over Willamette Forest Industries
  2. ↑ Catherine A. Baldwin (1982). Making the Most of the Best: Willamette Industries' Seventy-Five Years. (Portland, OR: Willamette Industries, 172 p.).
  3. ↑ A Pictorial History of the Straddle Carrier. D Earl Starner. 1988. 48p.
  4. ↑ "World Forestry Center: Forestry Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2007-09-22. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  5. ↑ The Architecture of the University of Oregon: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
  6. ↑ UO Libraries, Gerlinger Hall


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.