The location of this photograph has been determined to be Plum Island in Newburyport, Mass, on Boston’s North Shore. This area of marshes, in a tidal zone on the Atlantic ocean, is where salt marsh hay grows and then harvested. The farmhand would first use the wooden drag rake to collect the cut hay into piles. It would then be gathered and piled into layers above a platform (seen at bottom of photo) made from cedar wood staddles. This form of haystack making dates from the 17th Century and is still practiced in the area in the present day.

condition: lower margin of photograph torn to fit pre-cut window within small album.

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