In "Looking For Work: Industrial Archeology In Columbia County, New York", industrial historian Peter H. Stott draws upon twenty years of research to trace the economic storyline of Columbia County, a New York State region that is comprised of eighteen towns and the city of Hudson. Now admired principally for its scenic beauty and agricultural character, Stott's focus is with an examination of 134 still-visible industrial buildings and sites. Utilizing historical and geological research in published literature and periodicals, archival deeds, mortgages, business records, insurance documents, and census data, Stott traces the rise and decline of this county's industrialization and mid-twentieth century decline. From early sawmills and knitting mills, to turnpike tollhouses, railroad stations, utility plants, furnaces and kilns, processing plants, and more, "Looking For Work" is comprehensive in its scope and enhanced with filed photographs and 140 other illustrations. An original work of seminal scholarship, "Looking For Work details the emergence and growth of local industry as revealed in surviving sites and structures throughout Columbia County making it highly recommended both as a contribution to Urban Studies, American History, and Industrial Archaeology collections and a template for similar studies of other American communities.
