Logging Museum/Our World

 Wood carving of a lumberjack, Algonquin Logging Museum

Sometimes it's good to look back a couple of hundred years to see how lucky we are to be living in the 21st century.  Many of the first settlers in Canada were farmers who spent the winter cutting trees, many off their own land in logging camps.

Visiting the Algonquin Logging Museum was like taking a step back in time to the logging days in the area in and around the Algonquin Provincial Park.

 Camboose shanty

Logging in the Algonquin area began in the early 1830s and was pretty much a winter occupation. In autumn, loggers cleared roads for hauling hay, provisions, and timber. They also built shanties such as the recreated one in the photo above. Would you believe 52 lumberjacks would have lived inside this shanty?

The shanty seen from a side, notice the log chimney and cedar scoop roof

No need for windows since the loggers were inside the shanty only when it was dark. Before dawn every day, they began "hurling down" white pines and didn't finish until after sunset. The cedar scoop roof prevented snow and rain from entering the shanty.

Central fireplace

 Inside the shanty, a roaring fire kept the shanty warm.

 A crude wooden stool

Bunks

Lumberjacks slept in their clothes, two to a bunk. There's no place for washing up so the "aroma" must have been ripe.

Wooden door hinge

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.