Newfoundland History

Lawton's Forge

King's Cove, Newfoundland

Photo courtesy of Kent Hotson [September 2004]

The inscription on the plaque reads: "This building was built in the mid 1840's as a dwelling house, owned by a cobler named Thomas Maddox, who made and repaires shoes and boots. In the late 1930's Austin Lawton purchased the building and converted it  to a blacksmith shop, where he carried on business until the early 1970's. He made and repaired all types of engines used by fishermen and made iron works such as grapnels (grapels), anchors, dip nets, tools, iron gates, table legs, etc.. He also carried on a horseshoeing business, often makin the shoes from wharfs bolts or any available iron. Since Mr. Lawton's retirement, his son-in-law, Ed Schurman, continued to carry on the business on a smaller scale with the skills learned from the former owner. The forge is now owned by Mr. Lawton's daughter & son-in-law and their sons".