North Country At Work

John Hayes and George H. Terry about to saw a log at the Hayes Saw Mill. 1959. Photograph by S.W. Widger. Cranberry Lake, NY.

Unknown man among a vast field of logs ready to be processed at the veneer mill. Circa 1910. Wanakena, NY.

Log train at the Plains, a flat area between Wanakena and High Rock which was logged by the Rich Lumber Company. Note the swivel winch and lift mounted on a flat car to handle log-loading. Circa 1910. Wanakena, NY.

Men secure a log stack atop a truck at a logging camp in Elk Lake. Louis Wright is among the men. 1938. North Hudson, NY.

Logging crew secures a stack atop a truck at Elk Lake. Louis Wright is among the men. 1938. North Hudson, NY.

Louis Wright and other logging crew members at an Elk Lake logging camp. Circa 1938. North Hudson, NY.

Louis Wright holding his first marking axe; each lumberjack had an axe with a symbol on the end of it, which they would use to mark logs so they knew which lumberjack had cut them. Louis worked in logging and hauling from the age of 17. Born 1920 in Boonville, moved to Long Lake when […]

Men driving logs down the river. Circa 1900-1910. Hope, NY. Photo courtesy of the Hamilton County Historian’s Office. Betsy Earley’s grandfather, Fred Dunn, worked at a logging camp in Wells. She remembers finding a photo of him one day when going through the new Wells Museum. Listen to her story here.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Griffin was a thriving community. Around 300 to 400 people came to work in the booming lumber and tanning industries – in fact, it boasted one of the largest tanneries in the county. But now, Hamilton County Historian Eliza Darling says it’s one of the county’s two […]

Logs on a skidway at Brandreth Lake. Two men and a horse in the background. Date unknown. Long Lake, NY. Courtesy of the Town of Long Lake Archives.