North Country At Work

Adeline Hurlbut Thompson feeding turkeys in front of her farmhouse on Rock Island Road. 1920. Town of DeKalb, NY.

Workers pose before threshing grain on the Ira Poor farm on Childs Road. Circa 1890s-1900s. Town of De Kalb, 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 […]

Early bark building used as temporary shelter, with inhabitants out front. These structures were built of large sheets of bark and were used to house loggers in the late spring/early summer, when loggers would be stripping trees of their bark. Woman in doorway was likely this lumber camp’s cook. Circa 1880-1890. Town of Diana, NY. […]

Cows are going into the barn for the night (and possibly for evening milking). The Sherwood-Bullard house is adjacent to the barn. This was the home of the Jerden Falls tannery owners, and was later owned by the Chartrand family. Town of Diana, NY. Circa 1900.

Forest Home, built by Warren Humes. Building on the left is family farm house, built in 1870s, building on the right is the hotel, in operation from 1888 to 1914. Harrisville, NY. Circa 1890.

Eugene Cole house on the French Settlement Road. Pictured from left to right is an old log house, more modern farmhouse, and two barns. Family homestead where Barbara Cole was born. Now Brown Creek Club (hunting). Town of Diana, NY. Circa 1920.

Warren Humes jerking–preserving by drying over a slow fire–venison (deer meat). Taken by Burton Humes. Burton Humes sent photo to New York Conservationist Magazine where it was printed probably sometime in the 1950s. Original photo dates from about 1910. Harrisville, NY. Related story here.

Mert Mantle and Burton Humes at Forest Home. Using a two-man cross-cut to saw log. Harrisville, NY. Related story, here.

Members of the Elthorp family butchering pigs at their farm in Hammond, NY. Circa 1910-1920.