Singer Boot Shop

A person that makes shoes is called a cordwainer. A cobbler is someone that repairs already-made shoes. This building was built in 1838, which makes it one of the older buildings here at Westville. The owner, Johan Singer, was the first shoemaker in the Lumpkin, GA area.

Leather comes from animal hides. The Singers also owned a tannery outside of town, where they used red oak and hemlock bark to tan the hides and make usable leather.

Boots were the most common shoe worn in the South during this period for both men and women. Most people would only have one pair of shoes they would wear throughout the year. It was not unusual for some people, especially children, to go barefoot or wear shoes that didn’t quite fit them. Historically, women from around Lumpkin would make the tops of their shoes, or the uppers, out of cloth. They would then bring them here so the Singer family could put the soles on. The cheapest shoes would have been reserved for enslaved people and would cost about $1.00 a pair, or in modern money, about $33.