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GARFIELD
COUNTY, COGENWEB PROJECT
Quintus
Cato Blacksmith in Rifle
3rd street circa 1906. The Sanitarium became the Midland
hotel in 1916. Left of the hotel in this photo was the Cato
blacksmith shop. Donell built his two story Dodge agency
there circa 1915 and that building remains.
Cato Blacksmith Shop Rifle, CO
Quintus Cato is standing behind the anvil
In the pre World War One days fore the
automobile dominated the landscape the blacksmith shop was a
necessity in every town. They were the mechanic’s shop, tire
center and fabrication shop as they kept the wagons and farm
implements in working order as well as the horses shod. In
this Rifle Blacksmith shop can be seen leaf springs for
wagons and buggies, hundreds of horse shoes and metal bars
for fabricating most any metal part needed in the day.
Before downtown Rifle burned to the ground in the great 1902
fire, a blacksmith shop occupied the spot the 100 block of
East 3rd where the Midland Building now stands. When the
building was renovated in 2003, hundreds of old horse shoes
were found buried in the basement.
An old newspaper photo, on a 4th of July
about 1910. Looks like Cato's blacksmith shop was still
there, i.e. the false front on the right side.
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