Community - Local history

POSTED: Monday, Sep. 29, 2008

Historic Reid Boiler Works helps fill nation's pantry

Jennifer Barker says people often stop to ask questions about Reid Boiler Works on 10th Street, where she's the office manager.

I'm not surprised. I've often wondered about the story behind the industrial enterprise that, judging by its weathered metal siding, has been there a very long time.

Longer than the posh Chrysalis Inn & Spa and the new Taylor Avenue boardwalk just up 10th Street. Longer than the condos and new shops in Fairhaven a short trail walk away.

Here's the story.

The company is 110 years old this year, making it one of the oldest in Whatcom County.

In 1898, Robert A. Reid and his younger brother, Thomas W. Reid, came to Fairhaven - still a separate city at that point - to set up shop as boilermakers and sheet metal workers.

The brothers were born in eastern Canada, but their folks moved across the border to upstate New York when they were young. Both apprenticed as boilermakers in New York, and both were foreman at railroad yards before starting their venture together on Bellingham Bay.

Reid Brothers Co. began operations near the foot of Harris Avenue, then moved to its current location on 10th Street in 1915.

Early on, the company did sheet metal work, and repaired and built boilers for locomotives, boats, and lumber and shingle mills. Workers also fabricated storage tanks; components for bridges, docks and other industrial facilities; and made a boiler popular in schools, businesses and homes.

"Most of these old houses in Fairhaven, in their basement, they have Reid boilers," said Barker, who has worked for the firm 11 years.

The company name was changed to Reid Boiler Works in 1943 when the founding brothers retired and Russell E. Reid, the son of Robert A. Reid, acquired the business along with a partner.

The partner later retired, and when Russell Reid died in 1957, his son, Robert E. Reid, took command and remains its owner to this day.

By the 1930s the company was making canning machinery, and in the 1940s patented a mechanical door that one person could adjust and tighten for retorts - those commercial pressure cookers for canned fruit, vegetables, fish, pet food and other products.

Over the years, the company has made and sold nearly 1,800 of the large steel devices, Barker said, including many to companies whose products fill the shelves of grocery stores across the country. These days, the company's work force of 5 to 10 people focuses on fabricating retorts and making and selling replacement parts for its industry-standard doors.

"We don't have to advertise," Barker said. "The product sells itself."

Now that Robert E. Reid is in his 70s, the future of the company is unclear. But one thing is certain; there will be plenty of interest should he decide to sell.

The property on 10th includes a small parcel on the east side of the street, plus title to the adjacent tidelands, a rarity.

"The property would be worth one ton of money," said David Moody of Fairhaven Realty. "It's a prime, prime piece."

Moody said he receives inquiries about the property frequently, but Reid hasn't shown any interest in selling.

Should the industrial operation cease, the property's waterfront commercial zoning would take hold. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

When you walk past Reid Boiler Works, you're looking at a piece of history that's still kicking. Appreciate it for its long life, and for its equipment that continues to fill a fair share of the nation's pantry.

"This building, and what's built in here, is part of your daily life," Barker said.