It is a common question in the history of the maple industry of when maple sugar makers began to replace kettles with flat pans and arches and began to build sugarhouses. My latest maple history contribution to the March 2022 edition of the Maple Syrup Digest (Vol. 61, no. 1), attempts to address these questions in sharing a handful of well-dated and detailed written descriptions of flat pans and sugarhouses from the first half of the 19th century. In addition, one of the earliest examples of an illustration of a sugarhouse from 1847 is also presented.
You can read the article at this link or by clinking on the accompanying image. The Maple Syrup Digest is the official publication of the North American Maple Syrup Council.
Interesting article, Matt. I guess it would be hard to know when sugar makers started adding baffles in the pans to facilitate continuous draw off. I’m assuming these early pans were completely open with no compartments?