Dam construction above Berlin

This photo, which dates from about 1900, conveys an accurate picture of the back-breaking toil involved in the construction of dams on the Androscoggin before the advent of hydraulic equipment. A handwritten note on the back of the image reads: “Italians digging for foundation of end of dam." The site of this dam is thought to be somewhere in the Pontook section of the River, above Berlin, New Hampshire.

Circa 1900