| History of the Maple
Sugar House
The Sugar House was built to reduce Maple tree sap
to a thick Maple Syrup. The colonist learned this technique
from the Native Americans to sweeten their foods.
The prototype for this sugar house is located in
Geauga County, Ohio. It is in Swine Creek Park off Hayes
Road in Middlefield Township. The Sugar House was built
in 1980 to show visitors how Maple Syrup is made and
to preserve the history of this process. This provides
the visitors a close look at all the work that is necessary
to process the sap. Once the visitor has seen this process
they will really enjoy their pancakes or waffles with
Maple Syrup on them.
Early spring workers begin to gather sap from buckets
attached to Maple Trees. The sap is poured into vats
attached to sleds pulled by horses or tractors to the
Sugar House. The sap in these vats is then poured into
large tanks that hold up to 3,000 gallons of sap. 42
gallons of sap is required to make one gallon of syrup.
Wood has been collected from the sugar bush woods to
heat the sap. To reduce sap, you must remove the water
from the sap. Long pans are used to hold the sap while
a fire is built under pans holding the sap to evaporate
the water.
In the spring of 2004 we saw 800 taps being made
to sugar Maple trees. In previous years there has been
as many as 1400 taps to the trees. Once the fire under
the evaporator has started, the process will continue
until the sap has stopped flowing.
When you are in the area, stop in and see the prototype
at Swine Creek Park.
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