The Sash and Blind Factory

The Sash and Blind Factory. . What looks like a small amphitheater from where you are now standing was the site of the H.H. Stickles Sash and Blind Factory. Here, water power was harnessed to run machines for planing, cutting, shaping, mortising, and finishing wood, and for crushing and processing apples. Most of the industrial sites on this island changed hands freqently and activities changed as well, based on seasonal water levels and availability of raw materials. SLHA [St. Lawrence Historical Association], A toilet juts from the second floor. It may have been a convenience for workers, but was by today's standards environmentally insensitive. , A sash and blind factoy such as this supplied a variety of wood products necessary to finish building a house or business establishment, including doors, window sashes, blinds, stairs, brackets, and other interior items. This industry would likely use a considerable quantity of lumber and we can assume that it came from the lumber mill only a few yards away. , Behind where you are standing, the stone-lined well may have been used for protection from fire. Just a few feet further down the path on the right are nine rectangular blocks that may be partial foundations for the lumber trestles that were used to transport lumber to stacks on the far end of Falls Island. , The stone foundation and the stonework along the head race are prominent features at this site. The northwest corner of the building can be precisely located because we can still find mortar in a notch in the large bolder [sic] that was the foundation corner for the building. , This diagram shows three basic types of waterwheels. Most likely either a breast wheel or a turbine was used in this application. Any waterwheel or turbine pits or foundations are buried under the present surface, possibly by materials washed in from the river. Louis Hunter, A History of Industrial Power in the United States. , The flume that carried water from the dam to the grist mill probably continued through the raceway into the sash and blind factory where either a waterwheel or a turbine directed power to the machinery. Detail, WCT Survey Map, 2003 , A family gathering at this site in highly unusual. The photo does give us the opportunity to see the relationship of the grist mill to the sash and blind factory.