What is it? A grain binder in a brand-new Stock Pavilion
People with expertise in two areas helped with a recent request for information on a photo from UW Archives. Jeff Nelson, senior research specialist and lecturer in biological systems engineering, identified the machine as a McCormick-Deering Grain Binder. Arne Alanen, emeritus professor of landscape architecture, thinks it was taken early in the life of the UW Stock Pavilion. “It might be taken during construction, which started by the summer of 1908,” he says. “The official opening was July 1909 (a very fast project), although the cattle slaughter occurred some months earlier. Assuming the building was enclosed before the cold weather of 1909 arrived, it’s possible that the grain binder photo dates to the winter of that year (1909) when workers might have been completing the seating, probably in 1909. Scaffolding by the bleachers suggest that the building is still under construction.”
Thanks to both respondents for the info. Your reward—coupons for Babcock ice cream—are on the way.