This past August I spent four days in Yellowstone National Park.  One of the most majestic facilities there is the Old Faithful Inn.  The two main entry doors are hand crafted of wrought iron and rough hewn lodgepole pine wood.  When I walked through I had to photograph them.  I am sure they are over 100 years old and the names of the craftsmen are lost to history.  Have any of you taken on a project such as these doors?  I would cerntainly like to read about your experience if you have.  listed below are two web links if your are interested in the history of the Old Faithful Inn.  Put Yellowstone National Park on your bucket list. 

Old Faithful Inn | Yellowstone National Park Lodges

Old Faithful Inn - Wikipedia

I have been familiar with the magnificent Old Faithful Inn for many years although it is in the opposite corner of the state from me.  No, I have never attempted anything of the sort ("We're going to need a bigger forge.")  Other places that have impressive iron work are things that were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and early '40s.  There is some at Guernsey State Park on the North Platte River in the eastern part of Wyoming.  I hope to get back up there soon and will take some pics and try to post them.  I've also seen impressive iron work on the doors of Roman Catholic and Episcopal cathedrals.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Pretty cool.

I was talking with a smith at a period re-enactment and he was working on the hinges for the gates of a colonial period fort that is being built somewhere around here. 

A few years back there was a documentary made called "The Devil's Blacksmith" about the smiths who re-made the hinges on the North door of Notre Dame.  

Some of the colleges have some really nice iron work as well. I was commenting to someone the other day about the gates of Harvard. They are worth taking a gander at. 

That's great stuff, DHVidrine. Thanks for the photos.

At risk of unnecessarily triggering the classic Harvard-Yale rivalry, Yale also has some great ironwork, including a number of gates by Samuel Yellin. 

As for church doors, here's Yellin's ironwork on the doors of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia:

(This is the church where my parents got married.)

Billy, i have recently seen that documentary. Crazy, so many welds, so many small details and the result is a small piece.

 

But from the time, that the hinges may take up the whole door.

Did you check out the fireplace pokers and other hardware? They are massive.

Yes, I saw the fireplace set.  Quite impressive.

I am the son of one of the more recent blacksmiths who worked on these doors! While not the originals, my father George Ainslie was hired to do a lot of restoration work on the Inn ahead of its 100 year anniversary in 2003. I was quite young at the time, but I know for a fact he made many of the patterned round boltheads you see on this door and the check in counter. Apparently it’s quite common for visitors to fuss with them until they come off and take them as a souvenir. 
 

He made similar heavy wooden doors for his shop and a few other private projects, though I know he was in awe at the craftsmanship of the Inn’s work. If you visit again and sit by the fire you will see the massive firescreens he made as near-perfect reproductions of the historic originals, and sit beneath the massive clock on the chimney stack that he helped repair. 

George Wellington Colpitts was the contracted blacksmith for the 1903/1904 Yellowstone National Park Old Faithful Inn construction.

More later, I am working on more details as there are dozens of ironwork examples in the Inn and Lodge.

Welcome aboard KAinslie and TomE1978, glad to have both of you here! If you haven't already, please read the pinned "Read this First" topic for helpful tips on how to get the most from this site. Also this is a world wide forum and it's often good to know where a poster is from and the answer to questions sometimes depends upon it. Please edit your header so we know what part of the world you're in.

KAinslie, your father sounds like a talented smith (and the name seems familiar but I can't place where I've heard it right now). Did you inherit his love for working metal?

TomE1978. Thank you for piecing together the pictures of the skilled itornworks at Yellowstone. I was hesitant to click a link from a brand new poster, but I asked google which claimed it was safe so I clicked. Glad I did.