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Northwest Mill Town Holds On To Blue Collar Past

Molly Solomon/OPB

An industry that once defined the Columbia River town of Camas, Washington, is coming to an end. Last month, Georgia-Pacific announced it will close most of its production at the town's 134-year old paper mill. For many, the mill was more than just a job.

The papermaking past of Camas is entrenched in the town’s DNA.

Nowhere is that more apparent than when you walk into the high school auditorium.

This is the home of the Papermakers.

A banner with the school’s fight song is decorated with rolls of toilet paper.

And then there’s Camas’ iconic mascot. He used to be Joe Papermaker, but now he goes by the Mean Machine. An animated paper roller that fires up the crowd during time outs.

Sitting in the back row at a recent basketball game is Wayne Rash. He’s a former mill worker who graduated from Camas High in 1964.

“I come to all the games," Rash says. "It doesn’t matter which sport.”

Rash says when he was growing up, almost everybody lined up for a job at the mill after graduation. Nowadays, most of the kids in this auditorium wouldn’t even consider that.

“It used to be the only thing in town," he says. "But they’ve added a whole lot of industry here. Still kind of an icon. If the mill goes away entirely, certainly be an impact I’m sure.”

The company Georgia-Pacific says the mill will start to wind down paper and pulp operations early next year. Which means up to 300 people will likely lose their jobs.

Regional state economist Scott Bailey says the loss of mills in the Pacific Northwest is nothing new. Since 2000, nearly 10 paper mills have shut down in Oregon and Washington.

“Other areas, rural areas, very few job opportunities left and it’s really devastated towns,” Bailey says.

But Camas is not your typical mill town. In fact, many would argue it hasn’t been a mill town for quite some time. 
Back in the 70s, a bad union strike threated to bring the city to a halt. It was the first time Camas seriously confronted the idea of diversifying its economy. Nan Henriksen is the city’s former mayor. 
 

"There were a lot of us that realized that the golden goose could die any moment and we would be in financial ruin,: Henriksen says. 

Back then, nearly 70-percent of the city’s property tax revenues came from the mill. 

To avoid a possible economic collapse, Henriksen knew Camas needed to attract new industry. And when a plot of land became available, the city bought it…and turned it into a thriving business park. 

Soon high tech companies like Hewlett Packard, WaferTech, and Sharp moved in, bringing big money and white-collar jobs. Camas soon saw its population – and its median income levels – rise. All that new wealth had some wondering whether the city was losing its mill-town roots. 

“That was a real time of crisis and questioning who we were and what we would be in the future,” Henriksen says.  

Somebody who’s seen those changes first hand is Larry Littleton. He and his wife Sandy have lived in Camas near the bottom of Prune Hill since 1955. Littleton recently retired from Georgia-Pacific, capping off a 45-year career at the mill. 

“The paper mill really was the heartbeat of the town period," Littleton says. "It was the driving energy behind the population growth, the building of a town here. Everything was centered around that mill.”

The Littletons point toward the hills behind their house. What used to be trees and forestland, is now high-end view property. Houses here can fetch for well over a million dollars. 

“I miss those days," Larry says. "I miss the way it was, things are different." 
"A lot of people that move here, they have no idea how important the mill was, they barely notice it," Sandy adds.
"There’s a lot of people that aren’t about to give up that identity and there’s a lot of people here yet that still see this as a mill town," Larry says. "Because that has just been what it’s been for so many years, that’s not just going to go away.” 

Daily reminders can be found all over Camas, including back at the high school. 

Last year, the football team went to the state championship...and won…for the first time. 

The city recognized them by renaming the street along the campus as Papermakers Way. 

Copyright 2017 Oregon Public Broadcasting