Wrought Iron Gate created by Philip Simmons

Local artisans crafted many of Charleston’s famous ornamental gates, like the gate pictured above by Philip Simmons. Decorative wrought-iron gates, fences, and railings are an integral part of Charleston’s identity, and the city’s African American craftsmen played a strong role ...

Philip Simmons

Philip Simmons, renowned Charleston

blacksmith, designed these wrought iron

entrance gates and they were fabricated

at the Simmons Blacksmith Shop by his

apprentices Joseph Pringle (cousin) and

Carlton Simmons (nephew). The men

forged the gates into shape using

hammers and an 18th century anvil.

The design displays the ...