[MassHistPres] Steel Tomb Doors

[Dennis De Witt]

It’s worth bearing in mind that they would have been iron, not steel.  Iron has the advantage of being vastly more rust resistant.  That said, sheet iron is now all but unavailable.  For this sort of exposed situation, you might want to consider having it galvanized.  Galvanizing was sometimes used by the mid-19th century — painted or sometimes overcoated with tar.

Below three photos of almost identical 1849 iron doors for tomb like Cochituate Aqueduct Gatehouses.  The first two ca. 1900.  The last current.  The strapping was riveted to the plate.

Dennis De Witt
Brookline


Exterior 1898, Brookline
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Interior 1909, Newton — It had been used for target practice
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Recent, Wellesley — You can see how much survives despite probably zero maintenance since at least 1950
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> On Oct 14, 2023, at 6:53 PM, Joyce Anderson via MassHistPres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
> 
> The Princeton Historical Commission’s oldest cemetery (Meeting House Cemetery) has two tombs that need doors. These doors were more than likely steel however; currently they are blocked up with concrete. The Commission would like to restore these doors. Can you recommend someone who can fabricate new steel doors? Thanking you in advance. Joyce Anderson, Princeton Historical Commission.
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