Greenfield Village Open-Air Museum

Built around the same time (1620) as the Cotswold Cottage and Dovecote , the Cotswold Forge, from Snowhill, Worcestershire, in southwestern England, was reconstructed in the Village in 1931. The forge was operated by members of the Stanley family for nearly 300 years, until Charles Stanley's death in 1909. Before and during the early part of the industrial era, blacksmiths were essential to the survival of communities in Europe and America, making wrought iron tools and appliances for everyday use in the home and on the farm. One can just imagine... Children passing by on their way to and from school, stopping to pause to watch the blacksmith work his craft. The smell of the fire and of singeing hooves pervade the center of the village, while the sound of the hammer on the anvil could be heard all around. After its relocation, this building, just like the other blacksmith shop in the Village http://gfv1929.blogspot.com/2008/08/village-blacksmith-shop.html was used to demo...

In early American towns the village blacksmith crafted many different products at his forge. Anything made of metal the blacksmith probably made or was handed down from a previous generation or transported at tremendous cost. In a small village the blacksmith was the hardware store the carriage repair shop the metal pan repair place the place where you had horse's shoes put on In some places the blacksmith married couples Made of stone, this blacksmith shop, one of two in Greenfield Village, was used for many different types of iron works and for the shoeing of horses. The Village, for years, hired a "smithy" for the patrons to watch and admire as he honed his craft, using the bellows and other original tools of the period. As he hammered at the molten metal against the anvil, the sparks would fly and the sound was heard quite a distance, drawing more patrons to the opened doors. ...