North Country At Work

Forest ranger Bernard Siskavich with Smokey the Bear, who came yearly to give a fire safety talk at a campground in Cranberry Lake. Date unknown. Cranberry Lake, NY.

Forest Ranger Bernard Siskavich speaks into a walkie-talkie at the site of a wildfire. May 5, 1999. Rossie, NY.

Forest rangers investigate damages about a week after the July 15, 1995 microburst storm. In foreground is Lieutenant Weitz (left) and Bernard Siskavich. About July 22, 1995. Wanakena, NY.

Town of Clifton highway department employees with trucks, snowplows, and machinery at the town barn in Newton Falls, a hamlet of Clifton. Circa 1960. Newton Falls, NY

Workers in front of the Newton Falls post office and store. 1910s. Newton Falls, NY.

George Bullock and his wife Sarah inside the original Wanakena post office. George Bullock was the first postmaster, and Sarah sold postcards and maintained an album of every postcard sold in original condition. Circa 1910. Wanakena, NY.

The original Wanakena post office, which opened in 1902. At the time of this photo, the post office contained over 2,000 PO boxes. When the town’s lumber company left the area in 1912, the population went down and the post office no longer needed its own building, so it was moved into the general store […]

Portrait of Long Lake’s first constable, Charles Hanmer, with his billy club. Circa 1880s or 1890s. Long Lake, NY.  Photo courtesy of Louisa Austin Wright, a descendant of the Charles Hanmer.

The County Courthouse interior with staff. Date unknown. The building in downtown Plattsburgh exists today but no longer hosts court proceedings. Clinton County Historical Association. Brewer Collection.

Hamilton County Board of Supervisors. Chairman was Morrison J. Hosley, Junior. Circa 1984. Long Lake, NY. Photo courtesy of the Town of Long Lake Archives.