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Stove parts The technologically sophisticated stoves of today are the latest in a long line of such appliances. If you could visit a mid- to late 19th-century logging camp in northern Wisconsin, you might find an iron stove such as this one, found at a Rusk County site, used for cooking and heating. This nearly complete stove was found in pieces from the surface down to a depth of 35 cm (17.7 inches). The entire stove top was present. Other parts contained identifying labels. One piece was embossed with “P. Mack/ Pattern Maker/ Empire Stove Works.” A section of the front was embossed with the brand name “Golden Harp”--and, fittingly, among the fragments were stove doors with raised and molded harps. Other parts included portions of the sides, interior, burner lids, a grill, and three matching legs. Two linear depressions found on either side of the stove might indicate that the location was a “State of Maine” camp. This kind of camp, which would have been prominent in the region from the 1840s through the 1860s, consisted of a fairly simple structure with a single, multipurpose room (Rohe 1986:18). However, the few diagnostic artifacts found at the site suggest a time frame later in the 1800s, possibly the 1890s.  

Rohe, Randall
1986    The Evolution of the Great Lakes Logging Camp, 1830-1930. Journal of Forest History 30(1):17–28.