New Orleans is famous for wrought-iron balconies and garden gates, and much of that magic still comes from a forge. Darryl Reeves, a third-generation blacksmith at Andrew’s Welding and Blacksmith Shop, restores historic ironwork across the city, including the fence in front of the Cabildo, rebuilt from plans dating to the 1790s. He hand-forges everything from hinges to metal leaves and makes his own tools when a job requires it. “That’s learning from the past,” Reeves says of working from old plans. “That’s given a conversation with the person that actually fabricated it.”
The craft is finding new hands. Apprentice Karina Roca saw a PBS program about Reeves more than ten years ago, moved from Boston, and has now worked in the shop for five years while pursuing a master’s in historic preservation at Tulane. She sees the ironwork as a reflection of the city’s layered heritage, describing it as “so Spanish, so West African, so French.”
For those of us on the Suncoast who love history, architecture and the arts, there’s a lot to take away from this. Skilled trades carry culture forward in ways museums can’t, and apprenticeships are how that knowledge survives. Wherever you live, the old buildings around you depend on someone who knows how to care for them.
What’s your favorite example of historic craftsmanship in your community? Tell us in the comments.
