Ralph Hanford Collection

Horace D. Hanford, born in 1870 and the primarily photographer of the Museum’s collection, was the third child of David Josiah and Ann Elizabeth Hanford. Horace’s parents purchased the sawmill and farm property in 1860 that forms the nucleus of the Hanford Mills Museum site today. Horace married Mary Hamilton in 1897, and in 1902 their son James Ralph was born.

James Ralph graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, in 1924 and later made his home in Metuchen, New Jersey working as an electrical engineer.

These photographs reflect Ralph's young adult years, around 1918 to 1925, as he lived in Troy and visited home to East Meredith.