NORWICH – One hundred years ago this month, on Aug. 28, 1909, the Ireland Machine & Foundry Company located on State St. in Norwich filed for their first U.S. Patent. Titled simply “Sawing Machine” this patent application was for what was commonly known as a Drag Saw.

On Thursday, the Chenango County Historical Society will celebrate the centennial with a presentation by Alan Estus.

Used to cut large logs into firewood blocks, the Drag Saw eliminated significant manual labor in the production of the winter’s firewood supply for rural homes. Ireland was awarded U.S Patent #959,221 on May 24th, 1910, and the Drag Saw became one of the Ireland Company’s longest running products produced into the 1940s.