North Country At Work

Man operates a scraper inside Republic Steel Company mine. Mineville, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Dentist examines teeth in Prospect House. (Note the foot powered dentist’s drill to right of dentist.) Woman sits reading newspaper. 1890. Blue Mountain Lake, NY.

Miners Edgar Morey and Clarence Reed with a steam drill at the 13th Lake Mine. Circa 1900. North River, NY.

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

Garnet miners at Barton Mines pose against the opening of a new shaft. Notice the steel beams and wooden post on the left to support the overburden.  Circa 1900. North River, NY.

Four miners work with hammers, pickaxes and chisels. One worker (front center) measures up the minerals. One miner (near ore car) looks on. Wooden beams support mine ceiling. Circa 1900. Photography by S.A. Noves. Port Henry, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

Miners sifting through material at Barton Mines. The empty wooden barrel in the foreground was used to transport stones. Three of the men shoulder hods, used to carry rocks, bricks or other masonry supplies. Two of the miners are identified as Joe Lancore and Frank Hitchcock. Circa 1900. North River, NY.

Using horse drawn ore carts, men mine garnets in winter at Barton Mines. Workers, bundled up in winter clothing, shovel garnet ore into a two-wheeled cart pulled by a horse. Two other horses wait with a stone boat to pull more loads. Circa 1910. Barton Mines, North River, NY. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience.

The Farrell crusher, a piece of heavy mining equipment, being transported over a corduroy road (perhaps during springtime). The corduroy road was a common (temporary) transportation solution—built from small  logs laid in parallel rows on top of soft ground. The sledge on which the crusher sits would be pulled along the corduroy road by a […]

Workers pour concrete into forms to build sidewalk in front of Spaulding’s Store in downtown Morley. Two workers use hoes to mix concrete in mixing tub. The Erwin House appears in the background. Circa 1900-1910. Morley, NY. Photo from the collection of Jo Ann Waite Zenger.