No hoof, no horse. Good nutrition and feed builds a hoof from the inside out. Shoeing horses is an art, and that calls for quality nails. (If you've owned a horse, you've heard of Capewell Horseshoe Nails, made right here in Connecticut.)
Today, the former legendary factory building in Hartford is crumbling, and company nail operations were acquired in 1985 by the Mustad International Group, headquartered in Bloomfield, Conn. But did you know that the Governor of Connecticut's mansion was originally the home of the president of Capewell?
The first governor to occupy the Executive Residence on Prospect Avenue was Gov. Raymond Baldwin, who moved into the mansion in 1945, two years after the state acquired it from the heirs of Dr. George C. F. Williams, president of the Capewell Horse Nail Company (that was the official name back then).
The mansion was built for Williams in 1909, and he lived in it until 1933. He was the inventor who had found a better way to cold-roll steel to make horseshoe nails.
The original factory and office building are at the corner of Charter Oak Avenue and Governor Street.
History reference, The Connecticut Register and Manual.
Vintage image of the company: Connecticut Historical Society; vintage rendering of factory complex, old postcard.
