Getting enough iron in my diet

I love hand-wrought iron. When prowling around the C&O Canal and Antietam Battlefield I'm continually encountering beautiful pieces of historic iron work. It should be no suprise to anyone familiar with this region that there were small iron-works all over in the 18th and 19th centuries. The village of Antietam (about four miles from Sharpsburg) was a major iron making community and an important employer for many of the people of early Sharpsburg.


As the pic below shows, I also like working with iron.



Here's a selection of pictures of cool pieces of iron that caught my eye. Pardon me for keeping the locations vague. I hope you like them.

I think the last one is my favorite.


A classic Maryland star. Visitors always ask what these things are. They are simply the nut ends of a long wrought iron bolt that passes through the width of a brick building to help keep the walls from bowing outward.



(Yes, that's exactly what you think it is!)



The works of an old gristmill on the canal






Detail shot of the lift bridge on the C&O Canal at Williamsport



A hand forged hook on the battlefield


Iron lock fittings on the canal



decorative aqueduct railings on the canal





More canal iron





Man, I love this place!