1923-2023
From a blacksmith shop in the 1920s to a metal fabrication shop today, Giroux Body Shop has gone through many changes over the last 100 years – including the building, the tools, the projects and which generation is in charge.
Joseph Paul (J.P.) Giroux was born in 1896 in Ontario, Canada. He came to the U.S. around 1919 and began working as a blacksmith in Shelburne; that building was later moved to the Shelburne Museum.
Hermina Gervais was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1899. Her family moved to Vermont in 1916. She moved to Burlington around 1920, met and married J.P. After their marriage in 1922, J.P. began working at the Hinesburg blacksmith shop and the new couple moved here. According to his son Vic, J.P. had no interest in staying in Hinesburg, but when he had the opportunity to purchase the blacksmith shop and a house, he and Hermina chose to spend the rest of their lives here.
The Girouxs purchased the blacksmith shop in May of 1923 from J.N. and Fred S. Morrill, and renamed it J.P. Giroux. Their house, almost next door, was purchased later that year from Edson A. and Irene Owen and was where J.P. and Hermina raised three sons: Victor, Ernest and Bernard.
In the early days using fire, hammers, tongs and anvils, the shop made and repaired wagon wheels, rims and other metal parts for wagons and carriages. Also built were sickles, plowshares, axes, horseshoes and other agricultural implements. They would sharpen farm equipment as well as shoe horses and oxen. As motorized vehicles and farm equipment increased, demand for the blacksmith trade diminished and they had to adjust with the times.
The boys grew up working for their father; Victor went to Connecticut to attend machining school before he enlisted in the Army and Ernie the Navy. After the war, Victor and Bernard continued working with their dad while Ernie pursued other ventures. Bernard’s wife June was entrusted with all the office work as soon as they were married. In 1956, Victor and Bernard were added as partners with their parents in what became known as J.P. Giroux Body Shop. In 1960, after J.P. suffered a stroke, he and Hermina sold their portion of the body shop to Victor and Bernard, who renamed Giroux Body Shop. J.P. died in September of 1961.
The original 2-story wooden structure, built in the early 1800s, was only a few cars-width off Route 116, even before the road was widened. Around 1970, the right- most side of what you see today was built and the original was taken down. Over the years, there have been three additions and a recent remodel of the front.
By the 1950s the work they performed involved welding, vehicle body repair, and farm equipment repair, among other things. At this period in Hinesburg, there were around 50 working farms in Hinesburg alone. Vic and Bernard’s sons all remember their first jobs at the shop making wooden hay wagons for all farmers in and around Hinesburg, with hardwood from Clifford Lumber. The last wagon ad in the Burlington Free Press was dated 1986.
For years now, their work has included any metal fabrication projects that can be dreamt up. These include car, trailer, and truck body repairs; working on firetrucks; continual projects for several commercial businesses; and even making snowboard jumps and ramps for the World Cup in Killington for several years. During a recent visit, they were working on shade structures for cows and sheep. Any custom metal fabrication you can come up with, they can build. Today the tools are welders, shears, hydraulic brakes, lathes, milling machines and a paint room.
The second generation, like their parents, continued to live in town and raise their families here. Bernard died in 2004 and Victor in 2014, ending another era at the body shop.
The shop is now owned and operated by some of the third generation – Bob, Steve and David – and they all have sons working beside them, continuing the tradition and family business as it enters its second millennium.
After 100 years of growing and adapting to contemporary community needs from horseshoes and wagon wheels to sophisticated modern vehicles and equipment, Giroux Body Shop is still the place to get stuff made and fixed.
