Shoemaking Artifacts: Racks

Lumber and聽paper products is the largest industry in Maine. Its history dates back all the way to the early 1600s when the English settlers came to Maine and noticed the tall white pine trees on Monhegan Island. They started cutting down trees on the island and soon on the mainland as a resource聽to聽build ships. They found the trees so valuable that they began marking them for聽ship building, claiming them for the king. The need for these trees soon increased after the Revolutionary War for building ships and infrastructure, which聽were much needed in the new American economy. The trees that were...