The barrel and box making industry was an important part of Hammonds Plains' history and economy for over 200 years. Coopering and box making skills were brought by early settlers and mills produced wooden pieces that were turned into barrels and boxes by local coopers and box makers. At its peak in the early 20th century, there were over 30 cooper shops and box factories in operation. However, the industry began declining in the 1930s due to economic factors and the rise of plastic, with the last cooper shop closing in the late 1970s and box factory in the 1990s. Though now a lost art, barrel and box making was integral to Hammonds Plains' social and industrial development for generations.

1. Hammonds Plains
Heritage - The
Era of Barrels &
Boxes
Presentation by Hammonds Plains
Historical Society
January 28, 2019

2. The art of Wooden
Barrel and Box
Making is over
2000 years old

3. The Forest Industry
in Hammonds
Plains can be
traced back to the
original
H P Grant – 1786
Land was full of Old
Growth Forests

4. H P Area was
primed for forest
based industries to
develop

5. First Mills in Area –
Early 1800’s

6. Early settlers
brought Cooper
Skills to
Hammonds Plains
– Chester Group /
Chesapeake Black
Loyalists

7. After 1820, Mills
start popping up in
area in increasing
numbers

8. By 1840, mills were
creating wooden
by- products

9. Barrels

10. First Cooper Shop
believed to be
Allison & Whiley
Cooperage – built
1825 in Upper H P

11. Before 1900,
almost everything
was shipped in or
stored in wooden
barrel or boxes

12. Cooper Shop Facts
 Cooper – name of trade to those
who made barrels
 Pieces (staves, tops & Bottoms)
for barrels cut at mill, then
brought to shop
 Usually 2-3 coopers in one shop
 Cooperage skills usually learned
through apprenticeship system.

13. Cooper Shop Facts
 Good coopers could make 30 – 50
barrels per day
 During 1800’s, barrels produced
with wooden hoops (iron hoops
came in during 20th century)
 Both dry barrels (apples, potatoes,
sugar) and wet barrels (fish) were
made in H P

14. How a Barrel is made?
• Staves are shaped using draw
knives or jointer plane. Staves are
tapered at the ends
• Staves are arranged vertically
inside a metal raising hoop or by
a placing a ring around them

15. How a Barrel is made?
The barrel staves are heated and
progressively tighter hoops around
the barrel, forming it’s shape

16. How a Barrel i?
The ends of the barrel are leveled off and
a grove cut into the inside edge to receive
the barrel heads. The ends are fitted in
place and a hoop is put around them

17. What Did a Cooper Shop Look
Like?
A basic rectangular or square wooden building.
Most often had windows, tools hung up along wall,
piles of staves on floor, storage space for finished
barrels, large stove.

18. Barrels hauled to
market via Barrel
Wagons

19. Boxes

20. Box Shops
became
common in H P,
during the
second half of
the 1800’s

21. Largest Box and
Barrel Manufacturer
in H P in 1800’s –
Hays Brothers
(Pockwock Lake)

22. Wooden Boxes
were used for
shipping dried
and salted fish

23. 1. Box pieces (sides, ends, covers
and bottoms) are cut to size
2. Sides and ends are created (most
often two or three pieces)
3. Width of tops and bottoms are
taped using run up saws
4. Sides and ends are grooved and
tongued (optional)
How Wooden Boxes were made?

24. 5. Sides are stamped using stamping
machine (optional)
6. Sides and ends put together to
create box frame
7. Bottoms are nailed to box frames
8. Tops are bundled
(Amount of boxes per day depended upon
equipment and size of box shop)
How Wooden Boxes were made?

26. The art of
Coopering and Box
Making was passed
down from
generation to
generation in H P

27. H P Families involved in Making
Barrels & Boxes
• Smith
• Thomson
• Haverstock
• Romans
• Pace
• Eisenhauer
• Melvin
• Frizzel
• Schmidt

28. Upper H P / Kemptown Families
involved in Making Barrels & Boxes
• David
• Allison
• Whiley
• Marsman
• Jones
• Anderson
• Moren
• Hay(e)s
• Wright

29. Early 20th
Century – Golden
age of Barrels &
Boxes
Over 30 shops in
area

30. 20th Century
• New Machinery
Introduced (Nail
machines)
• Motorized vehicles to
haul products
• Move to iron hoops
for barrels

32. New vs Old
Transportation
Methods

33. Box and Barrels
interwoven into the
social fabric of
Hammonds Plains
• Care Packages
sent during
Depression

34. The 1930’s start the
decline of the Barrel
and Box industry
• Great Depression
(affecting markets)
• Iron hoops increase
longevity of barrels
• WW11
• Move to plastic
products
• Decline of fish stocks

35. By the 1950’s, the
nature of the forest
industry was changing
leading to cooper
shops and box
factories closing at an
increasing rate

36. Last Barrels
W. G. Haverstock
closes doors – Late
1970’s

37. W. G. Haverstock – 1990 (After it was closed)

38. Last Boxes
Whiley Mill closes
1990’s

39. Barrels & Boxes
Now a lost art &
industry, but is a
huge part of our
heritage