The company's history can be traced from its founding in 1891 through its growth and merger in 1984 to its purchase by its current Japanese parent, Taiheiyo Cement, in 1990.

The following year, it formed a new subsidiary in Phoenix, Arizona Sand & Rock Company, to manufacture prestressed and ready-mixed concrete.

[7] Economics commentator Ben Stein wrote in Barron's, "It is difficult to escape the conclusion that CalMat's management sold a valuable asset at far below full value primarily to get a worrisome corporate raider and greenmailer off its back.

[16] CalPortland's original plant in Colton stopped production on November 20, 2009, as the company restructured to deal with decreased demand during the Great Recession.

One of the main contractors, the Pacific Bridge Company, needed high-quality gravel to produce large quantities of concrete.

After investigating a number of unsuitable sites, the company found a large quantity of suitable gravel on the waterfront near Steilacoom, Washington, and began to mine there.

[19] Once construction of the forts was completed, Martin Sand & Gravel Company acquired the mine; sources differ on whether this occurred in 1899[19] or 1905.

[20] The company grew, and by 1927 had six storage bunkers in Seattle, as well as in Bremerton, Olympia, Tacoma, Everett, Bellingham, Raymond, and Longview.

Pioneer Sand & Gravel supplied sand and gravel for area projects such as Seattle Civic Auditorium, the Lake Washington Floating Bridge, the Aurora Bridge, Husky Stadium, and the dry docks at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and also offered structural steel and other building materials.

A new contract between the company and the Teamsters was ratified on August 18, and a large concrete pour was scheduled for the following morning in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood.

Only 11 of the estimated 40 to 50 drivers needed showed up in time to perform the pour, contrary to assurances from a union official that the workers would respond to the work dispatch.

Both parties petitioned the Washington Supreme Court to review the case, and on December 16, 2021, it dismissed all of the damage claims by the company.

[24] In addition to the Supreme Court case Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters, the company has faced other allegations and legal proceedings.

The companies denied the claim, saying competition had actually brought prices down from $4 to $5 a barrel a few years earlier, when most cement was imported from elsewhere.

[7] The company reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice in December 2011 to resolve allegations it violated the Clean Air Act at its plant in Mojave.