Firestone Chicken Shed

As America was taking its first steps towards industrialization, the Hanks family of Mansfield, Connecticut, made early attempts to mechanize the production of silk thread. Rodney Hanks and his nephew Horatio Hanks built this mill in 1810. It was the first silk mill in America, producing some of the first silk with machines that were powered by a waterwheel.

Eggs are familiar. They're available nearly everywhere Americans shop for food and appear daily on menus at homes and restaurants across the country. What's less familiar is the story of their rise from products of the family farm to a major agricultural commodity. This group of artifacts helps document that story, revealing important developments in egg production and distribution and exploring consumers' evolving relationship with eggs.

Small sawmills played a fundamental role in rural communities in nineteenth century America, processing locally-logged wood to provide sawn lumber for construction in the immediate area. While many such mills were water powered, this was steam-powered from the outset. It was simple but refined -- a modest, self-sufficient industrial operation (water and fuel was available onsite), comfortably wedded to its rural location.