Wood On Glass
Teams of horses and men pull logs in the foreground. Ark rafts are visible in the background of the image. Raftsmen faced many dangers on their perilous journeys down river (and on their return trip typically on foot). Read more
Wood On Glass
The American bicycle craze occurred in the late 1880’s and throughout the 1890’s. The bicycle became an object of desire and importance, even in the remote lumber region. Riders formed clubs for recreation and camaraderie. Innovations that helped make this craze possible inclu... Read more
Wood On Glass
Goding’s camp is at the junction of a corduroy road and a rail line. Corduroy roads were built by placing small logs in parallel lines. This road was likely used by a timber hauling team to cross the railroad track. The area is now part of Susquehannock State Forest. According... Read more
Wood On Glass
A man appears tiny atop this large temporary log storage pile. This image gives an idea of its massive size. To load the logs on railroad cars efficiently and safely, the loader operator and crew had to load each log without disturbing any of the other logs in the pile. Disturbin... Read more
Wood On Glass
Individual families often hired Clarke to take their portraits. This family is pictured outdoors, likely because the lighting was better outside. They pose among wood chips, log slabs, and a partially squared log at their feet, all indicative of a work site. The woman sits in a c... Read more
Wood On Glass
This view from a high vantage point shows a railroad track paralleling the gentle curves of Pine Creek Gorge in Tioga County. During the late 19th century, lumber companies feverishly built railroads to harvest previously unreachable timber. The landscape changed drastically in... Read more
Wood On Glass
The Goodyear Lumber Company began building Norwich about 1910. This image of Main Street reveals what is probably typical of a small but prosperous lumber community of Pennsylvania early in the twentieth century. Norwich met its demise in 1921, when trees in the area were deplet... Read more
Wood On Glass
Folklorist Henry W. Shoemaker helped secure many of Clarke’s surviving photographic negatives for the state of PA. He described Clarke as a “corncob pipe-smoking, tall, slight, affable, ardent mountaineer, possessing a magnificent soldierly figure and erect carriage, with aquili... Read more
Wood On Glass
Clarke contracted with various lumber companies to make images of their logging camps. Pictured here is a relatively large camp with tools, equipment, barrels, baskets, boxes, a ladder, a grinding stone, a washboard, laundry, and a wagon scattered in a seemingly confused jumble.... Read more
Wood On Glass
Clarke’s images give insight to the material culture of the camps. A visit by a photographer was a rare and special occasion in a remote area, so for this image, women and children are dressed up. The men are in ordinary work clothing. “Store bought” goods included pails, baby ... Read more
Wood On Glass
This image is a typical composition by Clarke when photographing the camps; people, posed but relaxed, in the foreground, living quarters behind them, and the towering forest all around. Read more
Wood On Glass
This is Locomotive number 242, a Shay, built in 1888 at the Lima Machine Works, Lima, Ohio. It is pulling at least six loaded log cars. A Shay locomotive, with its special gears driving the train, made it superior to other types on steep inclines and switchbacks. Some of the m... Read more
Wood On Glass
Teamsters were responsible for driving and taking care of the horses that pulled logs to the nearest stream or railhead. “When we heard the cook downstairs, we got up. We did not wake the rest of the men. We had to feed our horses and get them ready in the morning. Also, afte... Read more
Wood On Glass
A large load of logs stacked on approximately twenty rail cars is ready for hauling, leaving behind stumps and desolate hillsides. Toward the end of his PA sojourn, Clarke often documented the devastated, barren countryside; sometimes called the “Pennsylvania Desert” by Henry W.... Read more
Wood On Glass
Card playing was a favorite way for wood hicks to spend leisure time. These nattily dressed men have improvised teeter-totter chairs and a barrel table. The 4th of July was a favorite holiday, marking the end of bark peeling. Competitions between camps were another form of rec... Read more
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