North Country At Work

Women working in a factory during World War II. 1940s. Unknown location.

Workers sewing inside the Shaughnessy Knitting Mill. The plant was started in Amsterdam, NY, and then moved to Watertown. In the 1920s, the company had mills in Philadelphia and Boston, with offices in about 200 different cities, and its plant (pictured here) in Watertown. The American flags may be in support of the war. Circa […]

Dexter Chair Factory employees on loading dock outside of factory. Circa 1905. Dexter, NY.

Unidentified workers at Dexter Chair Factory. Circa 1910s. Dexter, NY.

Sash and Blind employees. Front row from left: Winfield Bailey, William Aaron Dillenback, George Winegar, William Fletcher and Nelson Bayley. Back row: E.B. Dillenback, Greenleaf Penny, Ed Winegar, Frank Tucker, James Crabb and Alfred Rhines. Loaned by Nora Dillenback. Circa 1880. Dexter, NY.

Worker tending to equipment at the Limerick Cheese Plant. Late 1950s. Dexter, NY. Photo donated by Dexter village historian John Stano whose mother, aunt and uncle worked at the plant, which closed in the mid-1960s.

Interior of Leonard and Gilmore Sash and Blind company, previously a failed woolen mill. Standing in front is Charles Moyer. In rear, from left to right are: Herbert Coe, William Leonard and William Gladwin. Donated by J.L. Chidester, Dexter undertaker, to the Watertown Daily Times in 1940. Circa 1880. Dexter, NY.

Exterior of box factory, with workers, including Willard Steele (standing to right of man sitting on stump). Circa 1885. Philadelphia, NY.

This exterior of a chair factory from about 1900 shows how factories used the river to bring logs in via a chute. Dam in foreground. Circa 1900. Philadelphia, NY.

Inside a shoe last factory in Natural Bridge, NY. “Shoe lasts” are the wooden foot forms used to shape shoes. Circa early 1900s.