June 7, 20214 yr I had to be in Brooklyn, NY early Sunday morning. So I took my 21 lb. Hay Budden anvil, made in 1921 back to its birthplace. The building HB made these in up to 1926 is still standing. It has been used for many different purposes over the years. Being Sunday morning it was all closed. But I will return sometime to see what is inside, if possible. This building is probably the only anvil manufacturing building still standing from the past. So exactly 100 years after leaving this location, this small anvil returned.
June 7, 20214 yr When Postman was writing "Anvils in America" there was still one of the anvil manufacturing buildings in Columbus Ohio standing and it even had some tongs and stuff still laying around. After that it was used as part of a hydrogenation plant and last I saw; the plant was being turned into Condos.
October 4, 20232 yr It was probably not anywhere as built up with buildings in the area during the time anvils were being made, but I wonder where or how they got the enormous volumes of water necessary for quenching?
April 7, 20242 yr Where is? What is the address for the HB building. I would love to see where it was. Bought my first HB Anvil this week at an auction. A real dandy, always wanted one now looking into the history.
April 8, 20242 yr If you zoom in on Josh's second photo, you can see the address is 272 North Henry Street; that's in the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. A little Googling reveals that it appears to currently house a couple of companies that rent out equipment for the film industry.
April 8, 20242 yr I was in Chattanooga TN a few years ago and stopped at a large foundry. They did all types of castings and heat treating. In the corner I saw a large pattern for an anvil, about 250 pounds. They told me they would cast me one but wouldn't tell me a price. If I knew how much the price of anvils was going to increase, at least in our area, I would have had them cast me six or eight of them. Also, in Southern Mississippi there is Soule' Steam Works. It's now a museum. I'm not sure but I think they cast some anvils back in the day. Just not a name brand like Hay Budden but still kind of cool.
October 4, 2025Oct 4 I started with this same kernel of an idea. Now I want to take it further. Edited October 5, 2025Oct 5 by Mod30 remove link
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