(York, PA) Variety Iron Works, York PA. York: Beach Nichols, 1876. $225.00

"Variety Iron Works, York PA"

The central image shows the impressively large property with the brick offices at the center, the Foundry to the left and the Machine Shop to the right. The name above the door reads E.G. Smyser Variety Iron Works. Insets include “Section of House. Front Department” showing  men fitting together the sections of the face of an elaborate house with piers and “Section of Machine Shop” which provides a view of the interior of the shop. Workers are scattered about the property engaged in a variety of tasks. The chimneys of the many furnaces in the Foundry bellow smoke. An American Flag flies above the complex. A coal fired stream locomotive runs along the railroad tracks that the front of the property.

Stephen Smith’s Blog provides a good deal of information on the business and its buildings. The business was founded at the intersection of North and North Beaver streets in 1840 by Elisha Geiger and Samuel Bechtol. Edward G. Smuyser, a graduate of Gettysburg College,  became a partner in the business in 1853 and the sole proprietor in 1862.  The brick E. G. Smyser’s Variety Iron Works office building has survived and has been repurposed as the York Academy Regional Charter School a cooperative effort between the York City, Central York and York Suburban School Districts.

A fabulous addition to the collection of anyone interested in the history of 19^th century American manufacturing, the fabrication of iron or the history  of Pennsylvania towns.

16 ½ x 27 inches, sheet.
Lithograph.
Excellent condition.