Photo provides a glimpse at what helped Fort Worth move toward an industrial economy.
A picture is said to be worth a thousand words — or, in the case of this column, about 500 words. The photograph of four men standing beside a utilitarian wooden building was recently acquired from a dealer who sells thousands of mostly unidentified photographs online and at local shows.
It may be an unassuming image, but the caption on the back (with all its misspellings) hints at a significant event in Fort Worth’s history — the construction of the Armour and Swift meatpacking plants — and the role that working-class tradespeople played in building the city. Is the identification accurate? Can it be verified?
The identification reads, “Swift.s Black Smith Shop Dureing Construct Fort Worth Texas Location South of Main Bldg West of Boile – Room” and lists the four men in the photograph. From left to right they are George Morton, Andy Shelton, Gus Eilenberger, and Sam H. Smith. City directory and census records verify that two of the men – Eilenberger and Smith – lived in Fort Worth and were blacksmiths at the time the Swift plant was constructed, while Morton and Shelton were apparently itinerant workers.
The Fort Worth Record noted that concrete foundations for the Swift & Co. plant had been laid as of March 16, 1902, and both the Armour and Swift plants were formally opened on March 6, 1903. So, a construction photograph like this one would have to have been taken between those dates — most likely later in the range because the formidable brick wall behind them rises to a full height. The photographic medium and mounting also date from the early 20th century, appropriate for what the image shows.
Eilenberger, whose family emigrated from Germany, went to work as an apprentice blacksmith for John C. Jahns when he was about 17, in 1893-94. Jahns was a pioneer blacksmith and carriage maker who came to Fort Worth about 1879.
Initially the blacksmith shop at the Swift plant made and repaired many of the hooks, chains, and other iron equipment used in the meatpacking process. As time progressed, standardized manufacturing made this equipment more readily available, and it was cheaper to replace an item rather than repair it.
Eilenberger and Smith formed a short blacksmithing partnership, dissolved in 1907, and Eilenberger went on to run his own shop until he fell out of a pecan tree and died in 1928. Smith became a millwright, a skilled tradesperson who installs, maintains, and repairs industrial machinery, working both at the packing plants and General Dynamics. It was a natural progression of skills for someone who had been a blacksmith.
Walter Eilenberger, H. R.’s son, ran the blacksmith shop after his father’s death through the early 1950s, branching out into building custom truck bodies and auto body repair. Blacksmithing is an occupation that helped build this country and make the transition to an industrial economy. Swift and Armour were a major force in building Fort Worth’s economy, and it is fitting that a photograph of the skilled tradesmen who helped build and operate the plant has resurfaced.
Carol Roark is an archivist, historian, and author with a special interest in architectural and photographic history who has written several books on Fort Worth history.