John Nicholson helped keep the wheels turning as a Brighton blacksmith. This early photograph dates to about 1870. In days of the horse-and-wagon economy, smiths and wheelwrights were the service stations of the time, shoeing horses, repairing wheels, building and repairing carriages.

Fancy buckboards and carriages were prized possessions, as were the horses that pulled them--here a Thoroughbred. Fine clothing, too, was important, as illustrated by this Laytonsville pair on an outing.