Newel Posts and Newel Postlore
By: Bill Kibbel, Contributing WriterIn: Old House History, old house inspection, old house terminology
In case you aren’t familiar with the term, a newel is a central column around which winding stairs are attached. A newel post is (the often highly decorative) post at the end of a stair that anchors the railing. Newel posts are an architectural detail that had many style changes throughout history.
In the early American colonies, simple lathe-turned posts, often similar in profile to the balusters of the railing, or ...
