Port Townsend Paper Mill: Past, Present, & Future

In 2021, JCHS and Port Townsend Public Library teamed up with the City of Port Townsend, Port Townsend Paper Company, KPTZ 91.9 FM, Swan School, and other partners to present a suite of programming about Port Townsend’s mill.

In this program series, we delved into the mill’s history, economic and workforce impact, recycling practices, and of course its product—brown Kraft paper!

Presented in partnership with

Program Recordings

One-hundred Years of History at the Port Townsend Paper Mill

January 28, 2021
Presented by Kevin Scott, General Manager for Port Townsend Paper Company

History and Operation of the Port Townsend Olympic Gravity Water System

February 25, 2021
Presented by Ian Jablonski, Water Resources Operations Manager for City of Port Townsend

In Their Own Words: Mill Workers Past and Present

March 30, 2021
Presented by JCHS and KPTZ 91.9 FM

JCHS Executive Director Shelly Leavens for curated oral histories from JCHS’s collection for this one-hour broadcast featuring stories from mill workers.

Artist Talk: Using Recycled Kraft Paper

May 27, 2021
Presented by JCHS and Swan School

As part of the 2021 program series, JCHS put out a call for paper-based artwork using the mill’s brown Kraft paper and exploring connections between the past and present, and relationships with our Pacific Northwest environment. Artists Karen Lené Rudd, Dana Squires, and Swan School art teacher Dana Weir from the Swan School came together in May to discuss the resulting art installations as well as student art made as part of the paper mill program series.