The Blacksmith Shop was an essential part of a community that relied on horses for transportation and heavy work. With a superb sense of timing, the blacksmith heated the metal in his coal-fired forge, placed it on his multi-faceted anvil, and with skillful strokes of his hammer, fashioned it into horseshoes, nails, hooks, hinges, tools, utensils, machinery and equipment parts, and decorative pieces. The blacksmith’s daily activities may also have included trading horses, giving advice on animal care or filling the role as community dentist.
A LIVING ORIGINAL VILLAGE
