I offer this post as a tribute to people who work on the NYS Canals, past and present. Caption on the reverse of the print reads “Raising of the flag on the new pole 1918” at the Matton yard.

The caption here reads “3 August 1917 John E. Matton.” I’d interpret this as John E. Matton, the yard owner, involved in the progess of a new barge.

Here the caption reads “Bill Folger at Matton yard.”

Caption: “Matton shipyard before 1918, Homer Folger in center foreground, Ralph Matton on image right, George Freshet (“The Kid”) in center background on Homer Folger’s right.”

Happy Labor Day all. If you have photos of NYS Canals workers to share, please get in touch.

For other photos of Matton workers, click here. Workers transshipping bags of salt train cars to barges, click here. For dam builders on the Oswego Canal in Fulton, click here. More wooden barge builders can be found here, and concrete barges, here.

I welcome further information on each or any of these photos. For more context on the yard, click here for an article from the Hudson River Maritime Museum blog.

Photos courtesy of CSNY.