Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Log Driver in the North Country

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post every week.  I started out by publishing only weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes from all over New England.  Sometimes these weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are very unique.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very special and unusual weather vanes.

Today's weather vane is from somewhere in New Hampshire.

Do you know the location of weather vane #304?  Scroll down to see the answer...

We spotted this weathervane while leaf peeping in the White Mountains.  Fortunately we were in the little red convertible, and the top was down, so taking this photo as we passed by was easy.  It was atop the Northeast Credit Union on Route 16 between North Conway and Conway.

This two dimensional weather vane is the silhouette of a log driver, which is clever since this bank is located near the bridge over the Saco River.  Sawn logs were floated downstream from the New Hampshire mountains into Maine to sawmills.  Log drivers guided the logs and prevented log jams by using pikes, peaveys (a long spike with a hook) and even dynamite.  It was dangerous work.  Railroads and road trucking made log driving easier in the 20th century.   Log driving ended in the US in the 1970s during an era of heightened environmental awareness, but lumberjack festivals and contests keep the traditions alive.

Northeast Credit Union   www.necu.org
199  White Mountain Highway (Route 16)
Conway, New Hampshire


Click here to see the entire series of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Log Driver in the North Country", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 29, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/03/weathervane-wednesday-log-driver-in.html: accessed [access date]).