Fred
C. Holmes Interview
In 1918, Fred Holmes
was born into the world and into the lumber business. His
father, Fred V. Holmes, owned Holmes Eureka until its sale
to Pacific Lumber Company in 1958. After completing a degree
in logging engineering from Oregon State University (Corvallis)
in 1941, Fred went to work at Rockport Redwood Company.
By 1946, he and a partner went into business for themselves.
They purchased timber from the Horace Thompson ranch and
built a very small sawmill at Howard Creek north of Fort
Bragg, CA. The mill closed in 1949 and Fred launched out
on his own with a wholesale lumber business in Fort Bragg.
The post-war period of the 1950s was a boon for the lumber
industry in California. As always, though, economic upswings
are followed by downturns. The late 60s and early 70s were
a struggle for Fred. When Robert Pamplin, the chairman and
president of Georgia-Pacific, made a buy-out offer, Fred
accepted the offer along with a new position with G-P. From
1974 to 1977, Fred was the general manager for G-P in Fort
Bragg. Not enjoying the "corporate treadmill",
he retired from G-P and later re-activated his wholesale
lumber business in 1979. For the last 30 years, Fred has
retired to his land, Holmstead Farm, in Marysville, CA.
His daughter, Phyllis, and son, Stephen, now own Fred C.
Holmes Lumber Company. On April
24, 2008, Fred sat down for an interview in the office of
his home. Some video clips from that interview appear below.
