{"id":1135,"date":"2015-09-03T09:33:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T09:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2015-09-03T09:33:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T09:33:00","slug":"historical-photos-of-boston-blacksmiths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=1135","title":{"rendered":"Historical Photos of Boston Blacksmiths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our interest in the topic of Boston blacksmiths came from a conversation about the term "smithing." One thing led to another and soon Penny was on the trail of historical photos of Boston blacksmiths. <\/p>\n

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This group of shops were on Rutherford Avenue.<\/a> (Photo: "Creation date: Since 1925?" <\/em>from the Boston Public Library Collection.) <\/p>\n

Clearly, there was a collection of places that served horses in that section of town. It seems that like stables, blacksmiths with their fiery forges tended to be clumped in areas away from residences. <\/p>\n

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As you can see from this location in the 1922 G.W. Bromley & Co. fire insurance atlas of Charlestown, the crossed out properties were insurance risks.<\/p>\n

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This photo of Lally Bros., Blacksmiths & Wheelwrights<\/a> came from the Boston Wharf Company Collection. (Photo: circa 1898-1907 <\/em>from the Boston Public Library Collection.) This firm announced their specialty in wheels and the wagon in the photo speaks to that.<\/p>\n

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Here's the Croce Blacksmith shop on Atlantic Avenue.<\/a> (Photo: 1962 from the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.)<\/p>\n

Blacksmith shops in different areas may have found themselves specializing in different tasks. Welding was on the sign here but with their waterfront location, this shop may have also specialized in the needs of boats and ships in the harbor.<\/p>\n

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You may very well pass the still existing work of some 19th Century smithies when you walk through Boston's historic districts. In Ornamental Ironwork<\/a>\"\", authors Susan and Michael Southworth say that of the ironworking techniques, "… blacksmithery is by far the most common technique used in architectural wrought ironwork."<\/p>\n

Back to where this all started. The term smith as in Blacksmith, goldsmith, silversmith and so on has an interesting origin. <\/p>\n

Wikipedia says,<\/a> "The name refers to a smith, originally deriving from smi\u00f0 or smi\u00fe, the Old English term meaning one who works in metal related to the word smitan, the Old English form of smite, which also meant strike (as in early 17th century Biblical English: the verb "to smite" = to hit). The Old English word smi\u00fe comes from the Proto-Germanic word smi\u00feaz. Smithy comes from the Old English word smi\u00f0\u0113 from the Proto-Germanic smi\u00f0jon. The use of Smith as an occupational surname dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when inherited surnames were still unknown: Ecceard Smith of County Durham, North East England, was recorded in 975."<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

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