wood on glass

Wood On Glass

Schoolhouse and Pupils – Unknown Location

The scene is crowded with forty schoolchildren of various ages and three adults. Most students have dressed up for the important occasion of having their picture taken. One school teacher, in a dark suit and bow tie, poses with an open book. The freshly painted, one-room schoo... Read more

Wood On Glass

Pine Creek – Early 1900s

Men and horses are rolling beached logs from the shore back into the water. An ark raft is visible, and the mountainside is nearly bare of trees from extensive clearcutting. Rivers played a key role in transporting goods like logs and lumber for Pennsylvania industries. Read more

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Ark Rafts in the Lumber Heritage Region, Pennsylvania circa 1905

Ark rafts were flat-bottomed boats used to haul cargo - in this case, lumber. A young girl in an apron positioned by two men also in aprons and holding cookware appear to be the cooks for this crew. In the ark raft furthest back, a horse is also visible and would have made the jo... Read more

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Men and Three Safety Bicycles – In the PA Lumber Region

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

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J.C. Goding’s Camp – Short Run Potter County

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

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Skidding Logs by Railroad Near Austin, Potter County

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

Portrait of a Family – Location Unknown

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

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Barbers, Three Miles Below Ansonia – Looking Up Pine Creek Toward Ansonia

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

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Along Main Street-Norwich, McKean County

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

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Portrait of a Man – Possibly a Self-Portrait of William T. Clarke

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

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Log Slide Through a Lumber Camp – North Central PA 1890

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

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Group Photo at Logging Camp – North Central PA 1890

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

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Group of Men at an Unidentified Lumber Camp

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

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Lackawanna Lumber Company Log Train – Near Cross Fork, Potter County

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

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‘Snaking’ Logs – Near Austin, Potter County

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