Blacksmith Shop

Blacksmith Shop opens its doors to visitors.

NPS credit

Quick Facts

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Wheelchair Accessible

Hours

Summer 2024 hours vary depending on volunteer availability.

Information

Built around 1867, the Blacksmith Shop was an indispensable component of the maritime village. Not only did the shop forge metal works, but it also served as the town's carpentry center. Nearly everyone in town had some need for the blacksmith's services, which included crafting and repairing oxen yolks, tools, and carriages, shoeing horses, and constructing pre-built homes, dining halls, and horse barns.

As the blacksmith and his striker worked, the melodious, ringing tap-tap-tap of the smith's hammer, alternating with the heavier clang of the sledge, set up a vibrating rhythm that could be felt in the trembling ground beneath the anvil and heard for half a mile down the road. Every now and then, the tempo was punctuated by the sound of hot iron plunging into the water tub, and at longer intervals the pitch changed as a new set of tools was put to work on a different task.

With the slowing on the steamship and lumber industries, the Blacksmith Shop closed in the 1920s and became a storage shed.

A wayside in front of the shop entitled, "Forging and Fixing," describes the role of a blacksmith shop in a community.