North Country At Work

Aunt Susie Graham spinning. 1900. Town of De Kalb, NY. Photograph by Robert Woodward.

Fred Hayes standing on the right in front of the wagon wheel, Fred Morrow on the left, a Gettman Girl and a young boy (center) standing in the F.W. Hayes Blacksmith Shop.  Fred Hayes was also a farrier and so he had piles of horseshoes in his shop. 1906. Town of De Kalb, NY. Photo […]

Barbers cutting hair in Ceylon Reed barber shop at ½ Main Street (Route 11). Circa 1931-1932. De Kalb Junction, NY.

Man poses in the interior of a hardware store. The building has early electric lights. Circa 1910. De Kalb Junction, NY. Photograph by Robert Woodward.

Floyd Powell stands in the Powell Feed Mill. The chute above his head was used for filling bags of grain, and the Fairbanks Scale on the left is designed specifically for weighing grain. Today the Powell Feed Mill is the commission sales barn in De Kalb Junction. Circa 1920s-1930s. De Kalb Junction, NY.

Portrait of WPA (Work Projects Administration) workers who were digging deep water holes for fire protection. Carrol Gazin on the far right in bib overalls. Circa 1935-43. Harrisville, NY.

Warren Humes and an unidentified Humes family member making maple syrup in an outdoor sugar camp using open pans. They have pulled the finishing pan off the fire (where it sat next to the kettle) and Warren Humes is stirring the syrup. The woman is having a taste of the product. Full bottles of syrup […]

Unidentified photographer working in his studio, making a portrait of a sitting man – possibly himself. This is a doctored photograph. In view are the camera, the backdrop, and a tool to keep the sitter’s head still. 1893. Harrisville, NY.    

The dining room of the McKeever Logging Camp, empty except for the cooks, Henry and Clara Stevens (on the left), who were from Pitcairn. The younger man on the right is Hershell Iruin, and he was the “choreboy.” Caption written on photo reads: WINTER OF 1911 to 1912 – MCKEEVER LOGGING CAMP – WAITING FOR […]

The dining room of the McKeever Logging Camp, filled with loggers during a meal. Caption on photo reads: WINTER OF 1911 to 1912 – MCKEEVER LOGGING CAMP – HARD WORKING LUMBERJACKS AND HEARTY EATERS HENRY AND CLARA STEVENS, COOKS FROM PITCAIRN – HERSHELL IRUIN, CHORE BOY. Winter of 1911 to 1912. Harrisville, NY.