About McFarlane’s Bark

McFarlane’s Bark History

In 1932 Clara McFarlane suggested to her husband Fred that they should buy a truck and deliver fresh sawdust for home fuel heat. Fred must have thought it a good idea as he quit what was his current livelihood, concrete. This was the beginnings of what was known as McFarlane’s Sawdust.

The original yard location was located at 94th and S.E. Clinton St. in Portland, Oregon. That location of what was sawdust was often referred to by those who knew it as “The Pit”. It was home through the years until the development of the I-205 freeway in 1970’s. The freeway planning forced relocation. McFarlane’s then moved to its current location in Milwaukie and officially changed their name to McFarlane’s Bark. The Vancouver yard opened in 1983.

With Clara keeping the books and taking delivery orders from their in-home office and Fred in charge of deliveries, Clara and Fred raised their family of three children, Shirley, John, and Helen, and McFarlane's Sawdust was well underway. Fred taught his son, John, all he knew and when John was old enough, he helped his father with delivering and loading products at The Pit. Through his increasing involvement, and the growth of the business, John gave up his plans of going into Forestry. He eventually took over handling the family business as Fred was aging faster than he should due to a weak heart. John married Marge in 1951.They were blessed with nine children: Patrick, Kathleen, Maureen, Daniel, Mary, Michael, Ann, Theresa, and Shannon. All have been active with the growth of the family business through the years.

As far as composting goes, John began by taking leaves and grass from his landscape accounts. He started mixing this material with old red sawdust. Sawdust turns color as it starts to age. This new material was a popular product with avid gardeners and the landscape accounts he delivered to. By the late sixties John’s boys were growing up. They were able to assist in running equipment, the screening plant, perform much of the maintenance and even drive the trucks by the early 1970’s. Many spring and summer nights John and his three sons would work till dark coming home late, having to reheat their dinners. The girls, too, all became active in the company. There was much to do to get the plant up and running to create the many different products. Over the years more sizes of products were created with collaboration from the Oregon State University Extension Service, the Oregon Nursery Association and McFarlane’s. There were special sizes of bark dust made for some of the nurseries, soil blends and most importantly, Compo-Stuff.

In the mid 1960’s we believe that John McFarlane was Portland’s first commercial yard debris composter! McFarlane’s performed nearly 100% of the bark blowing on the new interstate freeways throughout the Portland area. It was in and around 1981 that the Metro Service District contacted McFarlane’s with a proposal for taking on additional yard debris. Metro was helpful in marketing assistance and in the eventual mandate that made yard debris recyclable and not solid waste material. McFarlane’s takes in approximately 125,000 cubic yards of yard debris annually.

The 21st century has brought the 4th generation of McFarlane children into the business. We are proud of our family business. McFarlane's Bark has been fortunate to have had many wonderful employees throughout the years. Their combined knowledge, hard work, and exceptional customer service has been a big part of making the company what it is today. The McFarlane family and staff invite you to visit us anytime.

Thank you!