William Luke
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William Luke founded Westvaco Corporation in 1888 at Piedmont, West Virginia and West Piedmont, Maryland. Died 1912.
William Luke came to America from Scotland in 1852. Pioneer of the modern art of papermaking.
In 1888 papermaking still relied heavily on rags as the most common raw material. The price of rags had skyrocketed and the supply had dwindled. The Luke mill was the first to successfully develop the process of using wood for manufacturing pulp. Wood pulp paper is now the most common.
Town of Luke, Maryland is named for him.
