#10 Hurry Hill Sugarhouse

Last Updated on February 1, 2021

Earnest and Cecil Mecham built the little sugarhouse in 1930. Paul and Mary Woods built the big sugarhouse in 1958. The Woods-Nathanson family still makes maple syrup here.
An evaporator is the equipment that boils the tree’s sap to make syrup. Evaporators are described by their size and the number of channels the flue pan has.

Four evaporators have made their home in the big sugarhouse:

  • 1958-1976 a 4’ x 14’ English tin evaporator
  • 1976-2004 a 5’ x 14’ English tin evaporator
  • 2005-2018 a 4’ x 16’ Stainless steel Leader Special
  • 2019           a 2’ x 6’  Stainless steel Leader

The four cupolas at the roof peak open and allow 98% water to escape as steam. The 2% syrup is “drawn off” from the evaporator’s finishing pan.
At Hurry Hill Maple Farm, we choose to keep it old fashioned:

  • Spiles and buckets instead of modern plastic tubing.
  • Wood-fired evaporator instead of propane or gas to heat the sap.
  • Propane lanterns instead of electricity to light the sugarhouse.

Our transplanted outhouse is the only restroom in the woods and was built in the mid-1930’s by WPA (Works Projects Administration) employees.  Part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program was to have many unemployed citizens obtain jobs building things. The toilet facility is usable and requires no flushing, although sometimes visitors worry they might fall in!

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