Old Missoula

The article below appeared in the Missoulian-Sentinel Centennial edition in 1960.

White Pine Sash Co. In City Four Decades

One of Missoula’s major industries the past four decades has been the Missoula White Pine Sash Co. on the North Side.

The firm was organized in April 1920 when it purchased the property of a discontinued retail yard and detail millwork factory formerly operated by the Largey Lumber Co. on about 30 acres of land.

Remodeling and repair of the plant and installation of modern sash manufacturing machinery occupied about five months. The first carload of material was shipped in August 1920.

45 Employes at Start

The plant was equipped to manufacture about 1,500 windows per day with 45 employes. Only check rail KD windows were manufactured at that time.

Today the firm at normal strength has 325 employes with an annual payroll of $1,390,000. The products now include 3,500 openings of windows and sash per day, including 1-3/8 check rail and 1-1/8 plain rail; 1,100 openings of window and door frames per day; lineal sash and frame material; cut stock for toys and specialty items, and about two cars daily of common and dimension lumber used in construction. The plant now consists of 40 acres.

Klopp First President

H. G. Klopp was president of the firm from its start in 1920 until his death in an airplane crash in 1941. A. W. Olson, who was manager of the company under Klopp, has been president of the firm since 1942. Other officers are A. L. Riefflin, vice president, secretary and general manager; R. F. Bush, treasurer and assistant manager, and K. H. Klopp, vice president.

To increase sash production an expansion program was started in 1923. New dry kilns and a modern edge stacker and unstacker were added in 1924 along with an automatic sprinkler system which constantly expanded through the years into new buildings.

The frame factory building was constructed in 1926, and modern machinery was installed for manufacture of window and door frames with an output of about 200 frames daily.

Because of difficulty in securing a sufficient supply of shop lumber during 1944 and 1945, a modern band sawmill was constructed in June 1946 to supply the firm with some of the lumber needed. The sawmill began operating in June 1947 and has a capacity of about 45,000 feet of lumber per day.

Modern dry kilns were completed in 1949 and another room was added in 1953 for a capacity of about 2 ½ – million feet per month. Modern carriers and lift trucks for transporting, storing and stacking units of lumber were purchased in 1948.

Large Sheds Constructed

Two old kiln buildings were torn down in 1954 to make room for erection of two large sheds in which about 3 ½ – million feet of kiln dried shop lumber is stored.

During 1950 a fireproof treating building in which windows and frames are treated with toxic water repellent was constructed. Most of the windows and frames that are shipped are treated to protect them against infestation by termites and also to make them water repellent.

In 1955 an addition to the sash factory building was constructed for storage of cut stock, and in 1957 part of this addition was used to house the new louver door operation. At this time the south end of the sash factory building was again extended to provide storage space. The louver door department began operation in August 1957 with sufficient equipment to make 200 doors per day.

Machinery Replaced

Replacement of machinery that had become obsolete or was worn beyond repair was a major item of the 1957 program. A new tenoner* was purchased for the sash department, and a new tenoner and matcher for the frame department.

Montana soft-textured ponderosa pine is used for most of the firm’s products, although fir and larch is produced at the plant also. In its many years of operation the company has shipped its products to practically all parts of the nation, but most of its production goes to eastern and southern states.

*A projection on the end of a piece of wood shaped for insertion into a mortise to make a joint.

tr.v. ten·oned, ten·on·ing, ten·ons