Help with a face and a place

Kevinhooa

Kevinhooa

Explorer
Mar 12, 2008
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Hammonton, NJ.
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I got a message from a person on flickr asking for help recognizing the location in a photo she had. Personally, I have no idea, but I figured someone here might. Would anybody have any idea of what this place is? I have attached the photo and the message she sent to hopefully help with the ID.

scan00131.jpg


"I have an old picture that we found in my Grandmother's albums of some men standing outside of a forge or mill. Looks like the late 1800's or the early 1900's. All her family for generations was from Burlington and Atlantic Counties in N.J. May I send you the picture? I have no idea where the picture was taken and we don't recognize anyone in the picture, but it must have meant something to someone in the family. Maybe you'd recognize the place? I'm going to go through all the pictures you've taken to see if it matches up with any of the forges or mills. Thanks,"

I left the name out because I don't know if she wants her name on here. Anyone have any idea?
 
oji

oji

Piney
Jan 25, 2008
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Browns Mills
Yeah, way too nice for the pines. I think it would probably be in one of the "big cities" along the Delaware river or maaybe the Rancocas. Lot of red brick at Smithville.
 
Gibby

Gibby

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Apr 4, 2011
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I don't think it is Smithville. The buildings there have a different style lintel. They are are either made of stone or metal and have a slight curve to the top. Ferracute maybe? Can anyone make out the graffiti on the elevator?
 
Kevinhooa

Kevinhooa

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Mar 12, 2008
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Hammonton, NJ.
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Thanks for having at it guys. I thought Smithville was a possibility also but if the brickwork doesn't match I guess that's out. Possibly Ferracute, or maybe even Roebling? Coffin & Hay glassworks near Winslow? Did the Harrisville paper plant have 2 story red brick, or was it all the sandstone? Just throwing ideas at this point! Lol

dogg57 said:
Maybe...Boys positively Forbidden???
Click to expand...

That's what it looks like.
 
Gibby

Gibby

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Apr 4, 2011
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I don't think it is Roebling Kinkora either. Roebling's windows swing out for ventilation. The one's in the photograph slide up and down. Dogg, they must of had trouble with the younger workers playing on the lift.

There are to many possibilities, but I agree, it has to do with a sort of metal works. U.S. Pipe, Ferracute, tool and die, and so on. We need more information to be of any help.
 
Teegate

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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I played around with it and took out some of the haze.

scan00131.jpg
 
Gibby

Gibby

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Apr 4, 2011
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Teegate, thanks for cleaning up the image. I at first thought that the workers were holding a sledge or hammer, but could they be holding a hatchet of some sort? This might be a sawmill.
 
Jerseyman

Jerseyman

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Sep 10, 2003
1,377
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West New Jersey
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Gibby said:
Teegate, thanks for cleaning up the image. I at first thought that the workers were holding a sledge or hammer, but could they be holding a hatchet of some sort? This might be a sawmill.
Click to expand...

Gibby:

I’ve been watching the development of this thread with some fascination and amusement. You are correct: three of the workmen are holding half-hatchets (splitting blade on one end and forged with a hammerhead on the other end) and one is holding what appears to be a tack or nailing hammer. The open style crate supporting the two workmen strongly suggests it could hold a carboy. Also notice how clean the aprons are on each man. If they worked with metals in a forge or machine shop, the apron would be covered with oil stains. No, I think you will find that these men work in a shipping department and possibly for one of the glass factories. While we cannot identify the manufactory with certitude, or even be assured the plant stood in South Jersey, many glass works featured frame construction, which might narrow the search. There are several other types of industries that come to mind here, but I think a glass plant is high on the list.

Best regards,
Jerseyman
 
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Gibby

Gibby

Piney
Apr 4, 2011
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Trenton
Thanks for the information and a nudge in the right direction, Jerseyman. Sometimes, the obvious isn't so obvious. After reading your post and looking further, I saw a building with the same architecture as this one in a photograph of the Whitall Tatum Company. The photograph showed a line of trucks outside of the shipping building waiting to be loaded with insulators. The Whitall Tatum Company might be an answer.
 
Kevinhooa

Kevinhooa

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Mar 12, 2008
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Hammonton, NJ.
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Nice work guys. I don't know why I didn't even think to clean up the image first. Duh! And good point Jerseyman about the aprons being so clean.

As far as glassworks go, I guess narrowing things down would involve a good look at the physical plant of the factory and trying to match up details like what people have said. Possibly using the window design, brick layout, the metal plates holding back the bricks, the door/window headers, and also the elevator. The fact that the bolts and plates sticking through the wall randomly (the non-diamond ones anyway) might suggest a possible modification, or maybe even shoring things up from the recovery from a fire.

Here was a good site I found a while ago that had some nice detail in the plant layouts of specific early industries including the Williamstown Glassworks as well as the Winslow Glassworks (but it appears my java might not be working right as the plates aren't coming up.)

http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/HGS/index.htm
 
J

jokerman

Explorer
May 29, 2003
337
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Manasquan
Yes, that building doesnt look like a forge or a mill. The elevator or forklift might suggest this was a warehouse or store as suggested by someone else. You can see pulleys and rope for the lift. I looked closely at the writing on the back of the lift and I think it says:

"Boys
Position Forks...
(some type of instructions for use of the lift. can't read rest)
 
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