Smith-Worthington Saddlery Company

The Smith-Worthington Saddlery Company was founded in 1794 by Normand Smith under the name Normand Smith. It was the longest running saddlery in Connecticut.

The company's name changed a number of times over the years: Smith, Sheldon and Bigelow (1818); Smith and Bigelow (1822); N. and T. Smith (1824); N. and T. Smith & Co. (1825); Smith and Co. (1829); T. Smith and Co. (1835); J. T. Smith and Co. (1854); Smith, Bourn and Co. (1855); C. B. Smith and Co. (1865); Smith-Worthington Co. (1885); Smith-Worthington Co. Inc. (1905); and Smith-Worthington Saddlery Co. Inc. (1928).

In the 1830s, Normand Smith opened a retail store in New Orleans under the name Smith, Hubbard & Co. to sell the saddles made in Connecticut. In 1842, Charles B. Smith opened a retail store in New York City at No. 10 Old Ship. The New Orleans branch closes in 1870. In 1905, the New York and Hartford arms merged to formed the current Smith-Worthington Saddlery Company.

The company had four different Hartford locations: the corner of Main and Temple Streets in 1794; No. 331 Asylum Street in 1848; 8 Sigourney Street in 1882; and 287 Homestead Avenue in 1961. The five-story plant on Sigourney Street was razed in June 1961 to make way for a portion of Interstate 84, and the company then moved to Homestead Avenue.

The company has only been owned by three families. The direct descendants of Normand Smith managed the company until 1928. In 1928, John Allen Roberts, a manager of the New York City branch, purchased the company. In 1954, Clinton C. Hanks, an employee, purchased the company. In 2021, the company permanently closed.