Mr. Bell’s sand team and men, Forts Ferry, c. 1890. On the back of this photograph Adam J. Van Vranken wrote, “Aunt G. (Gertrude Van Vranken Lansing), Miss Bell, Uncle John and men.” The mining of molding sand was a major industry in Clifton Park during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The sand would be shipped out on canal boats or trains to foundries where it was used to produce cast iron.
Excerpts taken from the book "Images of America CLIFTON PARK' by John L. Scherer. This book, as well as John Scherer's new book coming out in April, are available the Town of Clifton Park's Office of Parks, Recreation, and Community Affairs.
