Variety Iron Works from 1868-69 city directory at York County Heritage Trust
I am glad to see that some of the remaining buildings of the Smyser-Royer Variety Iron Works complex are part of York City’s Northwest Triangle redevelopment project.
One of my York Sunday News columns outlined the metamorphosis of the company from a small stove manufacturer to a huge fabricator of mill gears and turbines; garden benches, fountains, and statuary; cast iron buildings fronts; light posts; lacy iron railings, such as the famous ones in New Orleans; iron bridge parts; and much more. You can read that column below.
Then I just came across an article in an 1867 York Gazette that added even more variety to the company’s products.
That article reads: “Besides the already diversified character of the manufactures turned out from Mr. E. G. Smyser’s Variety Iron Works...the enterprising proprietor has added another very important branch...we refer to the building of Steam Engines.
It is known as Isbell’s vibrating engine, and is a very neat, compact and peculiar machine, working smoothly and noiselessly. It is 26 horse power, and occupies an incredibly small space.”
A lengthy description of exactly how the engine works follows. The item ends by giving credit to two employees: “The patterns were made by Capt. John Hays, of the pattern department, and the whole was constructed under the superintendence of Mr. Alexander Duncan, foreman of the machine shops attached to the works."
Click here to read more about steam engines in York County.
The Sunday News column on Variety Iron Works follows below:
York County’s Connection to New Orleans’s French Quarter
Even though it will take years of hard work and unimaginable sums of money to rebuild New Orleans, the city and its spirit will survive. Reports state that the French Quarter suffered much less damage than some areas of the city. Perhaps part of the architectural survival could be attributed to the beautiful and sturdy cast iron balconies and fences of the French Quarter. In all probability, much of that ironwork was probably manufactured in York a century and a half ago at Variety Iron Works.
The local company was founded in 1840 by Elisha Geiger and Samuel Bechtol. In 1846 Dr. Alexander Small (younger brother of merchants and leading citizens Philip A. and Samuel Small) replaced Geiger. Bechtol in turn was replaced by Edward G. Smyser in 1853. Small died in 1862 and Smyser was the sole proprietor until 1907 when he was joined by B. Frank Royer. The firm continued manufacturing until 1941.
Few records are known to exist for the company, but those that do, in conjunction with contemporary advertisements and newspaper articles, chronicle an amazing metamorphosis from a small stove manufacturing concern to a huge fabricator of building fronts, interior and exterior railings and stairs, lighting fixtures, statuary, fountains, garden furniture, and iron bridge components. Variety also had divisions that produced iron shafts and gears for mills and industrial castings in addition to continued production of stoves for home heating.
With the absence of shipping records, it cannot be said with certainty which of the picturesque lacy ironworks of New Orleans came out of Variety’s West North Street foundry, but existing catalogs at York County Heritage Trust show a dazzling array of patterns identical to those still seen in the French Quarter. In an especially intriguing news article, a writer in 1859 tells that, on a visit to the factory he saw the just fabricated “massive gateway and fence designed for the Roman Catholic cathedral in New Orleans.” Present-day photos of St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, the centerpiece of the city, show that it is still surrounded by impressive ironwork, very probably the same as that described at the works.
Other cities most likely also provided New Orleans builders with ironwork, but they may additionally get credit for part of the York products. For example, Baltimore is often cited as providing New Orleans ornamentation, perhaps in part because by 1880 Variety Iron Works had its whole warehouse operation in Baltimore. The entire five acres of York plant could then be devoted to manufacturing. The Variety factory, much of which still stands today, had a railroad siding. The heavy iron could be put directly on the railcars and shipped to Baltimore to be warehoused and loaded on other cars or ships for transport.
New York is also mentioned as a New Orleans iron supplier. Granted, that city did have foundries, but it is well known that J. W. Fiske of New York, one of the largest suppliers of cast iron fountains, urns, and other garden furniture in the United States, had all of their ironwork manufactured by Variety Iron Works.
The company continued to thrive. In the twentieth century many famous architects, such as John Meade Howells and Mellor, Meigs and Howe, kept on using Variety iron for structural and decorative purposes in the public buildings and private homes they designed. A Philadelphia office was soon opened and the foundry’s work in iron, brass, and steel can be found on and in banks, railroad stations, universities, post offices, hospitals and immense office buildings built there and elsewhere during the first half of the last century.
Artisans were still being carefully trained in the twentieth century, some through co-operative industrial apprenticeships in conjunction with York High School. In 1927 a student in the ornamental ironwork program would contract to work 5,400 hours over a three-year period. He was paid on a sliding scale of seven to fifteen cents an hour, but when he graduated he could look forward to a good job with the company.
The Variety Iron Works buildings have been used by other companies since the foundry closed in 1941. The brick office building with cast iron lintels still stands on North Street, and the iron lions that guarded the gates are on display at York County Heritage Trust. In York and elsewhere, fences still mark boundaries, fountains spray and urns overflow with flowers. Lacy ironwork edges balconies and verandas. Feet tread up and down stairs graced with sturdy patterned railings. New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, State College, York, all over the country—durable, solid metal cast in York by Yorkers is still holding strong.
I was wondering if you knew where an old Variety Iron Works catalogue might be found. We are trying to track down the history of a fountain here in New Mexico manufactured around that time, and thought that it might be this company.
Ms. Lloyd,
I am researching my ancestor, William A Tomes, he was a foreman at the Variety Iron Works. I was wondering what information, if any, is available about the records, employee status, or pictures of the Iron Works. Following is an excerpt of the Biographical sketches of York County.
William A. Tomes was born July 7, 1929, son of Peter and Sarah (Keesey) Tomes, who were the parents of eight children: John, William A., Peter, Margaret, Mary, Sarah, Marcellus and Arabella. His Grandfather emigrated from Germany and settled at Cornwall Furnace, afterward moving to Colebrook Furnace, PA. He had six children: Peter, William, John, Elizabeth, Charlotte and Henrietta. Mr. Tomes is superintendent of the York Variety Iron Works. This establishment is the most widely known of its kinds in this country, and sends its productions to many foreign countries as well as throughout America. This house supplied the ornamental work for the great New York and Brooklyn Bridge, and the Market Street Bridge, Philadelphia, besides many other important structures throughout the country. They make a specialty of statuary. Mr. Tomes was married November 20, 1851 to Miss Mary A. Cook, daughter of Frederick B. and Harriet C. Cook. By this union they have been blessed with ten children: Charles C., Henry A., Francis, Camelia, Edward, Peter, Albert, William, Clara, and Mary E. He was drafted in 1863, but procured a substitute for $300. He has a fine three story brick house and a lot in East York, PA.
Any information that you can provide would be appreciated.
There are some catalogs and a file of general information on the Variety Iron works at the Library/Archives of York County Heritage Trust. I believe there are also some photos of the buildings.
Unfortunately, there is almost nothing in the collection on the people who worked there. It might be possible to figure out where your ancestor's home was by using old city directories and maps. If you have never been to the YCHT Library/Archives it might be worthwhile to look through the family file for the Tomes/Tome names. The staff is small, so anyone within an hour or two of York is urged to come in person to do research. For those farther afield there is a research-by-mail service for a reasonable fee. For more information go to www.yorkheritage.org.
This link has excellent information for me, as George Philip Smyser was my great-grandfather. A note from my mother states that the soldiers received muskets from the Iron Works for Harpers Ferry.
I am especially interested the Small family. The census shows that Jane Victoria Fulton (GPSmyser's wife)lived with a David Small - in her earlier years after her parents' deaths.
I would like to have more info on David Small or the men listed above. My grandmother, Mary Small Smyser, carries that name. Was David Small a good friend or relative? I have thought he was a good friend, took in JVFulton Smyser, and Mary carried the name because of his concern.
Are books on this company available for purchase? Is the YCHT the same as the York Historical Society Library? Thank you.
Thanks Mary Jane. I had never heard the story about the muskets, so I will try to look into that.
There were at least two, probably more, David Smalls during the mid-nineteenth century. As I recall, the newspaper editor and chief burgess (mayor) of York went by just David Small and the railroad car builder was David E. Small.
If you haven't already, you can visit or contact the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives at library@yorkheritage.org to find out more about the branch of the Smalls in which you are interested. Yes, YCHT is the same as the Historical County of York County. The name was changed in a merger of several historical organizations about ten years ago
I was also wondering if you knew where an old Variety Iron Works catalog might be found. I was trying to track down the history of a fountain here in Oxford, NY, manufactured around 1884, and thought that it might be this company.
The iron fountain was purchased in Rochester, NY.
I saw your note, visited the York Cty Heriage site, but I didn't see anything there on the Variety Iron Works catalog. I am emailing Jennifer Royer-- jroyer @ yorkheritage.org the Director of Exhibits and Collections. I'll see what happens. Thanks!
If the fountain is iron and marked Fiske, it was probably made by Variety/Smyser-Royer. From everything I have read, Fiske didn't have their own iron works. Some of their ads indicated that they had a foundry in York, PA, but actually Variety made the iron fountains, planters, etc. for them here.
We have a large file on Variety at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives, so if you want to email photos to me at ycpa89@msn.com or jlloyd@yorkheritage.org, we could tell you if they are similar to Variety fountains.
We are currently in the process of restoring our 1863 cast iron fountain, manufactured by the Philadelphia Iron Works. The fountain was given to the Borough of Meadville by Evans W. Shippen, an owner of the iron works foundry. We cannot seem to locate pictures of what an original fountain top looked like. Can you direct us to any pictures of fountain tops of the era? Thank you!
I suppose you have contacted the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to see if they have any catalogs or material on Philadelphia Iron Works items. York County Heritage Trust has a file on the Variety Iron Works/Smyser-Royer Co., which cast many fountains, including the cast iron fountains sold under the Fiske Co. of New York's name. You can contact the Director of the Library, Lila Fourhman-Shaull, York County Heritage Trust, 225 E. Market St., York, PA 17403. 717-848-1587 x223 or lfourhman-shaull@yorkheritage.org
I just did a Google search Fiske iron fountain and then hit images and came up with some you might want to look at.
Good luck--I'm always glad to hear about restoration efforts.
Thanks. I still cannot seem to find anything related to an iron foundry in Philadelphia and Evans W. Shippen. He was associated with foundries in Philadelphia between 1850-1862, but I don't know their exact names. Regarding the fountain that has graced our Diamond Park since Evans gave it to us in 1863 upon his return to Meadville, it is now at Robinson Iron in Alexander City, AL going through a complete restoration. The fountain will return by May. We think now the top is original, based in part on information you helped us find. So thanks very much for that. The top is the small child with the fish (dolphin) wrapped around his legs.
Thanks for keeping me posted. It's a long shot, but I'll check our files at York County Heritage Trust. A Google search turned up an except from the 1899 History of Crawford County that said Shippen managed furnaces in York and Lancaster counties around 1844, so he has a connection with us too.
I'm familiar with the child and fish fountain top. York County Heritage Trust has a small iron fountain in the back yard of the Bonham House site. It has a Fiske, NY name on it, but, as far as we know, all Fiske ironwork was done by Variety Iron Works in York. The top had been lost or damaged, so one of my former colleagues foung a child and fish at an antique shop. Unfortunately, that has been damaged since, so now the YCHT fountain has no ornamental spout.
It's really great that you are having your fountain restored. Perhaps you could email a photo or a link to a news story when it is reinstalled.