Ridgeway Forge Studio Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 Hi all, I wanted to see if anyone had any information as to the Hess Ironwork company around the New York City area. According to my wife's grandfather (who was the son of the master blacksmith at Hess Ironwork), this company produced all of the ironwork for yale University in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Her grandfather is in his 90s and doesn't quite remember much about his father's business, but I was hoping someone might know anything about it. Thanks, Patrick Ridgeway Forge Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 I don't know anything about Hess, but Samuel Yellin did a LOT of the ironwork at Yale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 Yale should know quite a bit about the architectural history of Yale; have you asked them yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 I went to the Department of History Yale and did a search for Hess and Hess Iron works. No results were returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgeway Forge Studio Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 IronDragon, thank you for trying! I did discover a few things that I am trying to follow up on. His business was called the Charles Hess Company Inc, with a shop on Flushing Ave in Brooklyn. The tag line on his maker's mark was Artisans in Iron, and he did the hardware for the Yale Fraternity houses, as well as all the ironwork for Northeastern University and a number of other places. I am still trying to discover his full product line, and any business records I can find. Its a shame the shop closed, but before closing it went from an ornamental iron company to largely a machine shop, with a listing of screws, bolts, blacksmith tongs and tools, and had a large contract with the US naval yard. We even have his old clearance badge to get on base. My grandfather had an anecdote, too, about when his father once delivered wood screws to the naval yard. The receiving officer saw the screws and the order sheet, and complained right up the chain of command that the products were defective, since the order called for wood screws and the ones he brought to the yard were not made of wood, but were metal screws! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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