Sol G. Simpson and his family moved to Mason County in 1887, where Simpson worked laying ties and rails for the Port Blakely Mill Company's logging railroad. He formed S. G. Simpson Company in Matlock in 1890. Three of Simpson's brothers joined him in Mason County, and two of them worked for him. Simpson Logging Company opened its first sawmill, the Reed Mill, at Shelton in 1925. Numerous other mills and logging operations along the West Coast have been acquired by Simpson over the years. [Source: James, David. Grisdale: Last of the Logging Camp. Fairfield, Washington: Ye Galleon Press, 1986.]
Camp no. 5 was located east of Schafer Creek in Grays Harbor County and could be reached only by the logging railroad for many years. It was in existence from the 1930s to 1946, when the residents were moved to Grisdale Camp eight miles north.
Kinsey Brothers Photographs of the Lumber Industry, 1890-1945
