The thousands of sawmills in New England for about 200 years beginning in the 1630s used essentially a single technology—a wooden waterwheel with a crank connected by the ‘pitman’ arm to a wooden sash (frame) in which was mounted a straight saw blade. The reciprocating motion of the vertically mounted saw results in the characteristic straight “up and down” saw marks on boards and timbers cut on these sash-type saws.

Have you ever driven by an old barn in a field with a sagging roof, off-kilter sliding doors, weathered clapboards or shingles and pane-less windows? If so, do you wonder like I do? I wonder about many things. Who worked there? What was it used for? How was it built and where did the material come from?