Andrew Benoni Hammond (July 22, 1848– January 15, 1934) was anAmerican lumberman. He developed the Missoula Mercantile Co. He built theBitterroot Valley Railroad and the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. He was president of the Hammond Lumber Co. and the Hammond Steamship Co.
Hammond was born inSaint-Léonard,New Brunswick,Canada on July 22, 1848.[1] He left home at 16 years old to work in the logging camps of Maine and Pennsylvania. He arrived in Montana in 1867, worked as a woodcutter and store clerk, eventually becoming a partner in the mercantile firm of Bonner, Eddy and Company. Under Hammond's management this became the Missoula Mercantile Company, the largest mercantile between St. Paul and Portland.Hammond Lumber Company was founded when Hammond purchased the Samoa sawmill, the largest mill in Humboldt County in 1900.[2]
Hammond and his partners received the contract to build the intermountain section of theNorthern Pacific railway line, from Helena to Spokane. In the 1890s, Hammond moved to the West Coast and built two more railroads. In 1900, he began to assemble one of the largest lumber companies on the West Coast, including the world's largest redwood lumber company and the world's largest lumber yard in Los Angeles.
Hammond is most known for his role in the poaching of federal timber during his years in Montana, and his anti-union efforts during the early twentieth century. Ironically, much of the Hammond Lumber Company lands that were illegally acquired under the federalTimber and Stone Act in Humboldt County eventually formed the bulk ofRedwood National and State Parks.
In 1956, Hammond's heirs sold the company's California stakes toGeorgia-Pacific.[5]
Hammond opened theHammond Shipping Company with ships to transport his lumber products. In 1929 the line was called the Christenson-Hammond Lines.[8][9][10][11]
Hammond Shipping Company wooden ships built at Hammond Lumber inFairhaven, California built: (Hammond Lumber purchased theshipyard in 1910 and sold yard in 1919)[12]
Necanicum built in 1912 fate Scrapped 1939
Mary Olson built in 1913 fate Burnt atCienfuegos in 1919
Santiam built in 1916 fate Burnt atAberdeen in 1936
Flavel built in 1917 fate Wrecked offCarmel in 1923
Trinidad built in 1918 fate Wrecked offWillapa in 1937
Halco built in 1918 fate Wrecked offGrays Harbor in 1925
^Carranco (Lynwood) Papers, Series: Redwood Lumber Industry (1982). Arcata, CA: Humboldt State University Special Collections, Humboldt State University.
^World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, MD[1]
^Maritime Administration."Arcata".Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved26 May 2021.
