By John Cofield

—

There was a blacksmith here in Oxford named Mr. Hall, who had a shop on Tyler Avenue, the alley running down from South Lamar, in a space behind both The Gin and Ireland’s. He opened the shop after returning from shoeing horses for the Army in Texas during WWI. When I was in high school and college, I would go and hang out in his shop, where Mr. Hall welcomed any visitors. —Tom Freeland

Michael Ford, Andy Waller, and Bill Lester were more than visitors to the blacksmith shop. Part apprentice, part surrogate son, and part witness to an Oxford original, Michael’s talents also extend to the camera, and Andy has Mr. Hall’s old anvil that he uses to this day