Informational update. I consulted another matriarch of things woodworking and until I can get her some images of the unfinished interiors and/or endgrain structure her best guess is something along the lines of Norway Maple...
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-.../norway-maple/
Goes to show that being from the northeast most of the maple I see doesn't look anything at all like that when sawn...
My brain thinks of this as "maple"
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-...ds/hard-maple/