Saw a beautiful old cast iron fence in Savannah last week

I was down in Savannah, Georgia visiting family and took a walk through the historic district. I stopped to really look at the fence around one of the old mansions, the kind with all the intricate scrollwork. You could see the old parting lines and some minor flash that was never ground off, probably from a sand mold poured over a hundred years ago. It's a nice reminder that the stuff we make is built to last. Anyone else ever spot old castings out in the wild that make you pause?

3 comments

3 Comments

gibson.felix2mo ago

Cool find. Do you know if it was original to the house or added later? Always wonder about the history.

ivan8732mo ago

That question about it being original or added later is a good one. My buddy found a cast iron downspout on an old factory building in Pittsburgh, and he got obsessed with finding out. He spent a whole weekend at the library looking at old city plans just to see if it was on the first drawings. Turns out it was, and he said finding that felt like a real win. Makes you look at those old pieces totally different, you know?

sethk431mo ago

Ever wonder how many people walk right by that kind of history without a clue? My friend's dad did something similar with an old pharmacy cabinet he found in his basement, totally buried under junk. He tracked down the building's original blueprints online (after like, three days of digging) and proved the cabinet was built right into the first floor plan in 1910. Suddenly this dusty old thing wasn't just furniture, it was a piece of the whole building's story. That's the cool part, it changes the whole feel of the place when you know.