North Country At Work

The big gas engine in the powerhouse at the Salisbury Steel & Iron Company mine. Circa 1905. Salisbury Center, NY.

Buildings of the Salisbury Steel & Iron Co. Locomotive in the foreground. Circa 1905. Salisbury Center, NY.

Miners in man cages at the surface, ready to go down into the mine. Each miner has a helmet light. Republic Steel Company. 1943. Mineville, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Surveying in the mine so that maps may be drawn of shafts and tunnels. A. Hughes is on the far right. Republic Steel Company. Mineville, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Miner drilling a large chunk of ore. Republic Steel Company mine. Mineville, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Miner unloads ore from a railcar. Republic Steel Company mine. From the Patrick Farrell Mining Photograph Collection. Mineville, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Group of workers pose by the top house at the Arnold Hill Mine with the large pulley and cable of the mine hoist on the left. Circa 1900. Au Sable Forks, NY.

Ore that has been broken up by blasting is being loaded into railcars for transport out of the mine. Loading with an Eimco 21 shovel. From the Patrick Farrell Mining Photograph Collection. Mineville, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Men loading a drift heading with explosives in a mineshaft. Note two buckets labeled “fuse” and “powder.” Republic Steel Company mine. From the Patrick Farrell Mining Photograph Collection. Mineville, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Overhead photo of a dump truck winding its way down a road into the quarry. At the time, this was the largest open pit talc mine in the world. Gouverneur Talc Company mine.  Circa 1979. Balmat, NY.