When this photo was taken on March 18, 1944, the Wilkeson Products mine was one of hundreds of war-production facilities financed by the Defense Plant Corporation. D.P.C. was a government-sponsored agency supporting U.S. war efforts following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
The Wilkeson Products mine opened in 1943 with the best mining equipment money could buy. Access was gained from the Skookum Slope, located south of Wilkeson Creek, about 2,000 feet east of the Wilkeson coke ovens and 350 feet south of Railroad Avenue / Quinnon Extended Road. The investment proved to be a bust when the mine closed on Nov. 22, 1944, having produced a paltry 54,000 tons of coal, less than 1% of Washington’s production during World War II.
Shown deep underground inspecting an air tank was Benjamin P. Wellock, formerly a steam engineer at the nearby Wilkeson stone quarry. Wellock was born in Calgary, Canada in 1914 to parents, John P. Wellock (1883-1943) and Maggie (Pennock) Wellock (1883-1950). The Wellock’s hailed from Pateley Bridge, England emigrating to Canada in 1909, and to the U.S. in 1924. Their son as well as two daughters attended Buckley High School, where Benjamin played the saxophone in the orchestra. Benjamin followed in his father’s footsteps and found employment at the Wilkeson quarry whose stone was famously used for construction of the State Capitol building in Olympia.
Wellock married Louise Clare Hodder in 1939, and advanced in his career becoming superintendent at the Walker Cut Stone Co. in Wilkeson. His work at the Wilkeson Products coal mine was for a brief period to support the war effort. Benjamin Preston Wellock died at age 66 in Wilkeson in May 1981. He was survived by his wife, Louise; a son, John of Wilkeson; a daughter, Alice Johnson of Carbonado; and sister, Mrs. Eric Lindquist of Seattle; as well as nine grandchildren.
This image number D17170-23 comes courtesy of the Richard Studios Collection and is house at the Northwest Room of the Tacoma Public Library. Biographical information about the Wellock family was provided by Donna Brathovde, a Ravensdale historian and genealogist.
