North Country At Work

Construction worker painting a penstock orange. Circa 1970. Colton, NY.

Building site of the Cranberry Lake State Dam, including wooden scaffolding. 1916. Cranberry Lake, NY. Photo by J. Reynolds.

A steam drill on track, winch (bottom left), and a crane boom for lifting rocks in the Canton Marble Quarries. Two groups of workers are visible in center foreground. Circa 1890s. Canton, NY. Photo by Dwight Seog.

Road construction in Canton, from Evergreen Corners to Pierrepont. Using both horses and a mechanical, cable-driven back hoe. Circa 1920s. Canton, NY.

Workers digging by hand and with a mechanical, cable-driven back hoe to build the first state road from Canton to Ogdensburg, which eventually become State Route 68.  Circa 1920s. Canton, NY.

Workers are raising rafters/trusses into place during the construction of the Agway building (now Bordeau Brothers US 11). Circa 1950s. Canton, NY. Photo by Dwight Church.

Sewer work in progress on upper Main Street in Canton. Pictured is a work crew above a deep ditch filled with wooden scaffolding, two men are at the bottom of the ditch. Circa 1881-1900. Canton, NY.

Horses drawing wagons to the construction site of the underpass on West End Avenue. 1915. Carthage, NY.

Early fire reports in the village mention equipment becoming mired down in the mud especially on the heavily traveled lower State Street.  In some photos, there are wooden crosswalks in evidence; there may be one at the corner of State and Mechanic streets in the center of this picture, as well as the one in […]

Dam at Newton Falls under construction. Pictured are a crew of workers building concrete forms for the dam at Newton Falls. 1895. Newton Falls, NY. From the William Kellogg Collection.