J. H. Baxter and Co.
American wood products treatment company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
J. H. Baxter & Co. is an American wood products treatment company founded in 1896 and incorporated in 1915. The company produces products such as railroad ties, and utility poles and crossarms.
History
J. H. Baxter & Co. began as a lumber wholesaler in San Francisco in 1896.[1][2] After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Baxter began distributing timber to sawmills on the West Coast using its own sailing ships.[2] Later, it shipped wood using steamships.
The company was incorporated in 1915.[1] It began producing preserved wood in 1915.[2] Among the chemicals used in the treatment process are creosote and pentachlorophenol (PCP).[3] Some of their products were branded Baxco.
The company has been owned by four successive generations of the Baxter family.[4] The company produces products such as railroad ties, and utility poles and crossarms.[5]
Plants
Eugene, Oregon
Baxter's Eugene, Oregon plant is located in a mixed industrial/residential zone of the Bethel neighborhood. Baxter began treating wood at the plant in 1943.[6] In the 1980s, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality began investigating the plant's use of chemicals.[6] The plant was closed in 2022.[3]
- Weed, California
The former J. H. Baxter plant in Weed, California is a Superfund cleanup site.[7] Wood preservation activities began at the plant in 1937.[8] The Weed plant was partially owned by Roseburg Forest Products.[8]
As of 2023, other locations included Alameda and San Mateo, California, and its TimberWood Products division in Brookline, New Hampshire.[9]
Memberships
See also
- Charles R. McCormick Lumber Company, McCormick partnered with J. H. Baxter's nephew to form McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Co.
- Pacific Creosoting Company, once part of J. H. Baxter; one iteration was Baxter-Wycoff Company