Godfrey Fuel Company

The first schooner of anthracite coal to be used locally sailed up the Neponset River to Milton Village where it was unloaded at the O.S. Godfrey Wharf, and shipments continued unabated until 1938. Godfrey Fuel Company was founded in 1865 and provided “blue coal,” a smokeless, soot-less source of healthful warmth, as well as other forms of coal and later oil in Milton Village. Coal had been brought to Milton Village since the time of the Civil War, and was delivered locally by horses of single, double, and triple hitch teams. Godfrey’s was the heating fuel source of choice for over a century. After 1928, with oil added to their line, their slogan was: “Let the Red Fleet Deliver Your Heat.” This ink blotter was printed about 1940; after Godfrey’s closed, J. Everett Robbie, last president of Godfrey’s, opened Robbie Fuel.