Blacksmith Shop

This building is a replica which was built in 1973. It represents a dying art - that of the blacksmith. The Blacksmith’s shop is located appropriately next door to the livery stable in the Homesteader’s Village.

It was necessary to any pioneers as horses were very important to most people. In pioneer times, the Blacksmith originally wrought iron pots and pans and fireplace utensils, as well as forging wheels. Eventually a wheel wright took over some of this business and the Blacksmith assumed the role of fashioning shoes for horses and oxen.

Blacksmiths also made and repaired tools and farming equipment. He was also the only person who had the tools to pull teeth. He was also the only tradesman in a community, who possessed tools suitable for bleeding patients - both human and animal (presumably with different instruments), in accordance with the idea that diseased blood should be removed for complete recovery.

The blacksmith’s art is actually forging - the shaping of metal, metal made pliable under extreme heat then beaten into shape. Forged metal is stronger and exhibits greater resistance to shock than cast metal.

The Blacksmith shop is a flashback to a pioneer trade but if you have the surname "Smith", somewhere in your family history there is probably a blacksmith accounting for the origin of the name. The frequence of the surname today indicates that, this now dying trade, was once widely practiced.