Captain William Renton

Captain William Renton (1818-1891) was a lumber and shipping merchant of the Puget Sound region.  Originally he lived in San Francisco and based his operations there.  Later establishing a sawmill on Puget Sound in 1852 as Seattle was beginning to grow, he became a significant businessman and local entrepreneur.  Captain Renton established sawmills throughout Puget Sound, especially at the successful and more famous Port Blakely site on Bainbridge Island. He was an important investor in the coal trade and has the honor of having the coal town Renton, Washington, named after him.

At Home On The Sea

Captain William Renton was born on November 2, 1818 in Pictou, Nova Scotia. His father was a ship's captain. As a young man Renton spent some years in Philadelphia, and in 1841 became a U.S. citizen at age 23. That same year he married a widow named Sarah Sylva. Sarah had three children. Within a year after his marriage, Renton acquired a half interest in the brig E. D. Wolfe. He sailed that ship as captain with a crew of seven for Genoa, Italy. Over the years, he purchased an interest in other ships, hauling lumber to far-flung ports-of-call.

Not Gold But Wood

In 1850, Captain Renton and his family sailed to San Francisco. Instead of joining the gold-seekers, he became a lumber broker, using the beached hulk of an abandoned sailing ship as his office and warehouse. In 1852, he captained the bark Alabama on a trip to Steilacoom, Washington, returning with a load of pilings. That trip whetted Renton's appetite for business opportunities on Puget Sound.

Deadheads And High Winds

Seattle pioneer Charles C. Terry persuaded Renton to build a sawmill at New York-Alki. In early 1853, Renton found other backers and purchased equipment for a small sawmill at Alki. Within a year Renton learned that the north winds, difficult ship's moorage, and bobbing deadheads (floating logs) added up to trouble for his mill. In 1854, he formed a partnership with Daniel S. Howard and moved the mill machinery from Alki to Port Orchard across Puget Sound.

Although that site was an improvement over the exposed Alki location, it was not perfect. The mill employed five Indians and six white employees. Profits were small, and the Port Orchard site was lonely (Renton's family remained in San Francisco, except for occasional visits), so Renton sold out in 1862 and returned to the Bay Area.

On June 30, 1863, using the Donation Land Act to purchase 164.5 acres for $1.25 an acre with $10.00 down, Captain William Renton purchased land at Bainbridge Island's picturesque Blakely Harbor, previously named by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes for Johnston Blakely, an American hero of the War of 1812.

The Port Blakely Solution

The Blakely Harbor mill site was the best Renton had found: It had an adequate water supply; plenty of flat ground; the inner harbor provided good storage and sorting areas; the outer harbor could accommodate sea-going vessels; surrounding hills provided protection from winds. Construction of the new mill was finished in April 1864.

San Francisco grew rapidly during the 1860s. The Port Blakely mill prospered with shipments to the Bay Area. By 1870, Blakely had a population of 59 white settlers. It was an immigrant town, with Canadians, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, French, Prussians, a Russian, a Belgian, and a Greek. During this period Captain Renton built houses for workers' families, dormitories for the bachelors, and a house for him near the millpond.

In 1873, a national recession occurred. Although business fell off, the mill had sales of $1.5 million in 1874. In addition, as San Francisco grew to 200,000 people in 1874, the need for lumber was unabated. The 1870s was also the decade, in which Renton re-organized his company, brought in new partners, built a new 75-room hostelry.  The Bainbridge Hotel -- established a daily stage between Port Blakely and Port Madison, and experimented with ways to improve heating and lighting at the mill (dogfish oil lamps had been the traditional source of light; electric lights were installed in 1882).

The thriving town had a post office, company store, livery stable, the Bainbridge Hotel, and a jail. A board sidewalk led to the nearby resort of Pleasant Beach. Boxing matches, dancing, tent meetings, a May Day fest, and an annual operetta drew boatloads of Seattleites to Port Blakely in its heyday.

Captain Renton's success and reputation allowed him to act as consultant and entrepreneur for other businesses As the major investor in coal at Mox LaPush near the south end of Lake Washington, the town that grew up in that area was named Renton in his honor. He also backed a scheme to build a railroad around the south end of the lake. Renton became a board member of that railroad, the famous Seattle and Walla Walla.

In 1879, Captain Renton persuaded Pope & Talbot, the owners of a shipyard at Port Ludlow, to move to Port Blakely. The shipyard promised increased employment. After the move, the shipyard purchased steam saws, planers, and other new equipment. Schooners constructed at the site were described as "fast, handsome and popular, and have long, sharp bows, with slightly hollow lines, the top sides having a faint curve home, and at the stern round in sharply over the arch-board in strikingly graceful fashion." A barkentine called Makah, the first ship launched in 1882, was 180 feet in length, 162 1/2 feet at the keel, with 5 inch thick planking. At 700 tons, it was the largest ship built at Port Blakely.

In 1882, the Port Blakely mill had a capacity of 200,000 board feet a day, the largest of any sawmill on the Pacific Coast. Keeping Port Blakely (and other mills at Port Gamble and Port Ludlow) supplied with logs was a challenge. A search was undertaken for new sources of wood. Mason County near lower Hood Canal seemed to offer the best opportunity. Drawing on his experience with the Seattle and Walla Railroad, Captain Renton began construction of a line called the Puget Sound and Grays Harbor Railroad -- usually called the Blakely Line -- to Elma on the Chehalis River.

In the midst of this activity, on February 4, 1888, a devastating fire burned the Port Blakely mill to the ground. Because the winds were blowing inshore, rescuers were able to save shipping in the harbor by hauling the vessels out into the Sound.

Captain Renton built a new mill on the carcass of the old. He used less combustible material -- heavy timbers and corrugated iron roofing. Installed were fire extinguishers, a system of water pipes and 850 sprinkler heads. Captain Renton, despite that fact that his eyesight was almost gone, directed every step of the resurrection. However, economics and an undependable wood supply forced the mill to close forever in 1914. Port Blakely clung to life because of its ferry terminal, which was moved further north to Eagle Harbor in 1937.

Never idle, Captain Renton invested in Seattle real estate. Renton Hill, sometimes called Second Hill, at 16th Avenue and E Madison Street, (in Seattle) was one of his tracts, as was the area at 23rd Avenue E and Union Street E (in Seattle). Other Renton investments included the Boston National Bank of Seattle, coalmines, and railways in the Puget Sound region.

Sarah Renton died at Port Blakely on May 12, 1890, age 74. The Captain died of peritonitis at his sister's home on July 18, 1891. On the day Captain Renton’s burial, the Port Blakely mill became quiet, ships in harbor draped in black crepe. The Seattle Press-Times said, "the strong man was gone, but the stern philosophy of his life had put life into the commerce of Puget Sound."