Smith Complex
1750 - 1761
“...The houses of the congregation were well built, and there were all sorts of manufacturing establishments there...There were good carpenters, cabinet-makers, steel-workers, and very good blacksmiths...”
Baroness von Riedesel's Journal
September, 1799
The craftsmen who worked in metal held important jobs in the Bethlehem community. The blacksmith made and mended tools, hardware, mill and agricultural machinery, wagon parts, and horseshoes. The nailsmith made thousands of tacks, nails, rivets, and spikes for furniture, shoes, and buildings. The locksmith made and repaired locks, small tools, saddle mountings, hinges, screws, and gunstocks.
Between 1743 and 1750, the blacksmith, locksmith, and nailsmith plied their trades at various locations. In 1750, they were housed under one roof in a limestone building erected on this site. In 1761, the smith complex was enlarged to the north and the tinsmith and gunsmith also worked here. In the 1780s, the nailsmith moved out and by 1820, only the blacksmith remained in the building.
Marker is at the intersection of Main Street and Old York Road, on the left when traveling north on Main Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
