Maple Sugar House

A maple sugar house is a specialized building where sap from the sugar maple tree (acer saccharum) was collected, boiled down, and formed into either maple sugar or maple syrup. The sugar house typically had the following characteristics: sitting in or near the sugar bush; frame construction; gable end; a single story; high smokestack; blank walls where the boiling apparatus was located; and a prominent open roof clerestory transom for ventilation. Maple sugar was an important product in the Northern Tier and Northwest in the 19th century, and also in Somerset County.

Maple Sugar House in Erie County
Maple Sugar House, Erie County, date unknown.
This maple sugar house is an excellent example of its type.

Maple sugar house near Monroe, Ohio, c. 1920.
Maple sugar house near Monroe, Ohio, c. 1920.
Photo by permission of Casbohm Maple and Honey, Albion, PA.