The Boyd and Jaquith Blacksmith Shop was founded originally by the Jaquith brothers. They have arrived in Concord from Canada circa 1880, and opened the shop on the triangle-shaped lot at the key downtown Concord intersection of Galindo- Salvio Streets and the old Pacheco Road (now Concord Avenue). Ed, and Clark Jacquith early on had hired another Canadian, Joseph Arthur Boyd, to assist in their prospering business. Clark Jacquith and Joe Boys became partners in the Blacksmith Shop when Ed and Martha Jacquith sold their home which was located on the southeast corner of Mt. Diablo and Pacheco Streets – present location of Park Terrace Apartments – and moved permanently to Santa Barbara.
The Jacquith daughters remained to be part of young Concords, Ency Jacquith (Boyd) married Joe Boyd in 1888; Ethel Jacquith became a teacher at the new Elementary School in the late 1890’s; and Jettie Jaquith later married “Judge” Ed Jackson, a constable and Concord’s first Justice-of-the-Peace. In 1892, Joe Boyd bought out Clark’s share of the business.
The Shop’s reputation for solid, quality work had grown. No longer just a horseshoeing and carriage shop, it had expanded to include repair of agricultural equipment and the manufacture of “Concord Brand” Farm Implements. Joe Boyd added a franchise to sell Studebaker cars and John Deere equipment; by 1919 he had a local capability to repair gasoline motors. Joe and Ency Boyd’s home still stands on the northeast corner of Mt. Diablo and Pacheco Streets; it is surrounded by Yvonne T’s Restaurant, GAF and Associates Engineering Services, the Styles-Ahead Salon, and AA Appliance repair. (It is not an official Concord Landmark.) Joseph Boyd played a central role in Concord’s early development. An original signer of the minutes of Concord’s initial incorporation meeting in 1905, he became the first President of the City’s Board of Trustees (Mayor).
He served as President of this area’s Red Cross, and was a Director on the initial Board of M.E. Lyon’s Bank of Concord and the Mt. Diablo Union High School District. He was an early member of the Volunteer Fire Department, and IOOF Lodge. His emphasis on committed citizenship was an example for his family. Ency and Joe had seven daughters and two sons. Miss Ruth Boyd and Mrs. Charolette (Boyd) Ballenger are fondly remembered and respected elementary school teachers; one son, Farmer Boyd, still resides in the area. Joesph Boyd died in a freak accident at the Shop in 1920. He is buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Pacheco. Ency (Jacquith) Boyd Died in 1940. A part of Boyd and Jacquith’s shop building remained into the 1940’s. The site has since been occupied by a series of activities; among them have been auto and bicycle repair shops, a pet store, Francis Murphy’s gas station, and, presently, the southeast end of the Spirit Poles element of our Heritage Gateway. The original Galindo Street segment adjacent to the east side of the Shop is now occupied by a parking lot and the outbound lanes of Concord Avenue.
