Steam Planing!

Steam was all the rage in the 1860s. Like electricity would be in just a few decades, “steam” became a symbol of modern industry, a sign of a business that could produce a lot and quickly. In this time we see ads for steam printing presses (the first in the country was in Albany), mills, and even cracker production. Van Vorst and Vedder, just a block or so from the Erie Canal, were justifiably proud of their steam planing mill.