In Smithville’s lower village, H.B. Smith’s machinery warehouse was the largest structure and stood across the main road from the Smithville railroad station. New houses were built on Forest Avenue in 1886 to provide homes for mechanics and their families, with monthly rent of about $8, generous yard space for gardens and fruit trees, and white picket fences. The Smithville School stood in the lower village; constructed in 1899, it replaced the original school in a building at the corner of the mansion property. The Smithville Methodist Episcopal Church faced the Smith Company warehouse across the road; this clapboard building measured 27 feet by 37 feet, had a bell tower over the entrance, and cost $1,397.84 to build in 1877. By about 1925, duplex workers’ houses on Forest Avenue had two and one-half stories and contained three bedrooms, a living room, dining room, and a large kitchen.