Second Floor: Early Techniques & Containers

The second floor of the museum is given over to the deeper history of maple sugaring — the Indigenous techniques that predate European arrival, the early colonial methods, and the long, slow evolution of equipment from the 17th century forward. It also holds the museum's most-photographed collection: hundreds of historic maple syrup containers and ornate sugar molds.

Room 1 — Early Syrup-Making Techniques

Room 1 covers the earliest history of maple sugaring in North America. Exhibits begin with the methods used by Indigenous peoples — primarily the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), the Algonquin, and other nations of the maple-growing regions — who developed sugaring long before European arrival and who taught the early colonists how it was done.

On display:

• Reproductions of Indigenous sugaring tools — birchbark vessels (mokuks), wooden spiles, stone-boiling implements
• Diagrams and audio narration explaining how Indigenous communities reduced sap to sugar without metal cookware
• Early colonial-era tools (1700s–1800s) — wooden spiles, iron kettles, sugar molds
• A timeline of how the techniques evolved across two centuries

The audio narration in this room is essential — much of the early Indigenous technique is invisible without explanation, and the room contains some of the most historically significant material in the museum.

Room 6 — Containers and Sugar Molds

The second room on this floor holds the museum's container and sugar-mold collection — one of the most visually striking exhibits in the building. Maple syrup has been sold and shipped in an extraordinary variety of containers over the past two centuries, and the museum has accumulated examples from across the United States and Canada.

On display:

• Tin pails and cans — the dominant maple syrup container of the late 1800s and early 1900s, often beautifully printed with bucolic farm imagery
• Glass bottles — from the small souvenir bottles sold at country stores to gallon jugs from commercial producers
• Ceramic crocks — earlier and rarer; particularly common from Quebec producers
• Sugar molds — wooden, ceramic, and metal molds used to shape maple sugar into decorative forms (hearts, leaves, animals, religious figures)
• Modern containers — glass leaves, plastic jugs, the cardboard cartons used for bulk distribution

The Story Behind the Containers

Maple syrup containers were marketing tools as much as packaging — particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when producers competed for the eye of the urban consumer. The museum's tin-can collection reads as a small-scale history of American commercial art: pastoral scenes, fancy lettering, farm-family imagery, the works.

Sugar Molds

Sugar molds were used to press soft maple sugar into shaped cakes for sale or for special occasions. Many of the molds in the museum's collection are wooden, hand-carved, and many have been in regular family use for generations before being donated. The collection includes religious imagery, animals, leaves, and several molds that are essentially unique — one-of-a-kind hand-carvings.

For Researchers

The second floor contains the museum's most research-relevant material. Scholars and graduate students studying the history of North American agriculture, Indigenous food traditions, or American material culture should call ahead — additional materials are available for research access by appointment. Contact [email protected].

The Stairs

The museum is housed in the former Leo Memorial School, a historic building with no elevator. The second floor is reached by a single stairway from the first floor. The stairs are standard width with a handrail, but the building's age means they are slightly steeper than modern code; please take them at your own pace.

Next Floor

From the second floor, the same staircase continues up to the third floor, which is devoted to logging and the lumber camp.