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Did You Know?ABy Cynthia Leal Masseyrnold Gugger (1855-1928) is one of the few pioneers who wrote about his life in Helotes. A copyof his five-page handwritten biography in the historical society archives contains dates and information pertaining to his life and is a valuable primary resource that provides evidence for the establishment of downtown Helotes. He wrote, “And in the year of 1881, we started a Blacksmith Shop, Grocery Store, and a Saloon.”In 1868, 13-year-old Arnold Gugger moved with his parents, Swiss immigrants Anton and Marie Gugger, to Helotes, where his father started a rock quarry business. His older sisters—Matilda (Braun), Ida (Epp), and Emma Katherine (Boerner)—were already living in the area, having married into Helotes pioneer families.Arnold helped his father haul freight all over Texas starting when he was eight years old, and after Anton opened the Gugger Quarry on Helotes Creek, Arnold helped him haul rocks to San Antonio. However, he wanted to start his own business and within a year of his arrival, Arnold began as a blacksmith apprentice to “Mr. Henry Colemann and Kunzmann.”After he learned the trade, he started a blacksmith shop at the farm of his brother- in-law Fritz Braun on Braun Road. In 1880, Arnold married Amalia “Mollie” Benke. In 1881, with the purchase of l10 acres at theintersection of Bandera Road and Helotes Creek, Arnold moved his shop there, operating as a blacksmith until 1898. He built the family homestead nearby, along with the town general store and saloon, using rock from his father’s quarry. In 1888, he became the third Helotes postmaster, a position he held until 1904.A couple of old rock walls, an old rock forge, and a plywood/tin ceiling are all that remain of Gugger’s blacksmith shop today. On private property in Old Town, the Gugger Smithy (1881-1898) was fashioned from rock from the Gugger Quarry.Blacksmithing was an important occupation in the 19th century. Although expertise differed, most blacksmiths were able to fashion farm and home implements out of iron and steel, and many were also farriers—craftsmen who trim and shoe horses’ hooves. They created and repaired hoes, plows, rakes, hardware and wheels for wagons, horseshoes, and kitchen utensils.The essential tools of a blacksmith are a forge, bellows, and anvil, and shaping tools such as hammers, tongs, forms, wedges, and chisels, to heat and shape projects. Blacksmiths heated metal in forges fueled by a charcoal fire. Bellows were used to blow air into the forge to make the fire hotter. However, by the end of the 19th century, blacksmiths began to replace the bellows with rotary fan blowers. The anvil, a largeThis 19th-century blacksmith shop is similar to what Gugger’s blacksmith shop may have looked like.block of metal with a flattened top surface, was used to absorb the blows made by the blacksmith during the shaping process.Blacksmiths wore everyday clothing, sturdy boots, and a leather apron to protect from stray sparks. Before the 1830s, wrought iron was the metal of choice. However, toward the mid-1800s, steel became popular because of its increased strength, although wrought iron was still used. By 1900, the blacksmith profession (as practiced by 19th century smiths) wanedas factories and catalogs made ordering manufactured goods easy and cheaper.The Gugger Blacksmith Shop is on the historical society’s list of important historic buildings in Old Town for refurbishment and restoration.Cynthia Leal Masseyis the author of severalbooks and articles on thehistory of the area. Visither website at https://cynthialealmassey.com.Mayor’s CornerLooking To Celebrate Your High School GradDH opefully you will be able to attend our annual July 4th Celebration which will be held at the Helotes Fairgrounds for the 3rd year in a row. I thought I would write a little bit about the history of our celebration. July 4th has always been a major event for the city as we have always embraced the commemoration of our nations birth.Traditionally, we hosted the event at City Hall with some refreshments and a fireworks show and we would host it on July 3rd to accommodate attendance at other events on the 4th as well as greatly reduced fireworks costs. Recent years saw the addition of the Helotes Area Community Band. Unfortunately, it was limited to about 1200 people due to parking, space limitations, and staff and there were safety issues with that many people packed into City Hall grounds, as well as firework damages to the O’Connor baseball field.When I was first elected in 2021, I reached out to the Helotes Festival Association to move the event to the Fairgrounds. This allowed for a wide variety of food vendors, greater space for families to set up chairs, and with a wide-open field it allowed for a safer place to perform one ofear Residents,the finest fireworks displays in the region. As a result, the 1st year we had about 5000 people and last year we had roughly 9000 counting the 2000-3000 people in Kuentz and O’Connor parking lots.This year we expanded the sound system to highlight the Community band and added vendors as food completely sold out last year. A featured band in the pavilion gave families an opportunity to extend their celebration with some country music and dancing.As an added bonus, with revenues fromthe vendor booths and decreased staffingcosts for the city, this new generation of July T 4th event is not only safer and much moreinclusive of all our residents, but was doneso at about the same or slightly less net costthan when it was held at City Hall.he Class of 2023 will always be remembered for rising to the occasion with poise,com. To make our next issue, please send in by July 10, 2023. Please keep at no more than 160 words and not less than 100 words. In the subject line, please put high school grad.Be sure to include their name, what high school they attend, their plans for after graduation along with any awards, scholarships they might have received. We love sharing “good news” and what’s better than celebrating the Class of 2023? They deserve it!Sincerely,Rich WhiteheadRich Whitehead Mayordetermination, and grace.Highlights Publications would liketo congratulate our seniors and their accomplishments. Is there a special graduate in your life?Is there a senior whom you’d like to recognize? We want to know all about him or her.Simply send us a photo of your grad along with a write-up telling us what makes them so amazing to info@highlightspub.4www.heloteshighlights.comJuly 2023