The "Metal Ring Along The Curb!" Story

Demuth's Tobacco Shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of Demuth's Tobacco Shop in downtown Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania.  Stopped for a photograph of the old shop after reading that it has been "temporarily" closed since 2010.  I had written a story about the tobacco shop when I had made a visit over 10 years ago, but hadn't been back since then.  The shop claimed to be the oldest tobacco shop in the United States and was founded by Christopher Demuth in 1770 and operated by him until 1815.  At least 5 generations of the Demuth family operated the shop through at least 1937.  It was known for selling premium cigars, pipes, tobaccos, cigarettes and accessories.  

The metal ring along the curb.

After taking a few new photos of the place, I turned toward my car which was parked by the curb and saw what appeared to be a metal ring laying along the curb.  As I reached for it I realized that it was permanently embedded in the stone curb.  After more examination I figured it was at one time used to keep a horse in check while the owner shopped at the tobacco shop.  Went home and "Googled" the ring and up popped a story by local newspaper columnist Jack Brubaker, known to all in Lancaster as "The Scribbler."  Seems he had received an email from another Lancasterian asking about the ring known to him as a horse ring.  He wanted to know if there were any other curb "horse rings" in the city.  The city of Lancaster was founded in 1729 by James Hamilton and is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States.  

A cast iron hitching post in the city of Lancaster.

During my photo shoots over the past 20 years I have taken many photos of the city and its grandeur and have noticed quite a few hitching posts around the city, but have never seen a "hitching ring" before.  Well, Jack canvassed the local Lancaster Walking Tour guides and they knew of the curb ring, but not of any other in the city, and they walk it day after day during their tours.  The ring, as you can see by my photograph, is nothing special, but certainly much cheaper to make and install than the traditional method of keeping a horse at bay, the hitching post.  Most, if not all, of the hitching posts around the city are cast iron and some are beautiful.  It wasn't that long ago that the streets of cities and towns across America were lined with the elegantly restrained form of the cast iron hitching post.

The top of the Jocko cast iron
hitching post.

They served no other job than to keep horses in line while their masters made visits closeby.  Many of these old cast iron hitching posts are selling for large amounts of money.  One of the most sought after is the Jocko hitching post.  Jokco Graves was a 12-year-old African American who looked after Washington's horses while he and his troops crossed the Delaware to fight the British at Trenton.  Jocko kept a lantern illuminated so that Washington and his troops could find the camp upon their return.  He was discovered frozen to death on their return, yet the lantern was still lighted and the horses he tended were still in place.  Washington later commissioned a statue of the boy to honor his bravery.  During the Civil War, images of Jocko or jockeys were used to identify stops along the Underground Railway.  Thus, hitching posts that carry the image of Jocko are in great demand today.  Well, I will continue to look for another curb ring, but suspect I will never find one.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A rare and pleasing pointing hand-form hitching post with delineated fingernails and double rings, second half Nineteenth Century, height 37 inches. 

This hand with double rings is rather unique.  It would fit onto a metal post.

This ring looks as if it could have been embedded in a stone curb.  

These are very similar to the ring I saw in the curb.